Dance of the Kitsune
by SelenaWolf
Summary: Haku just laughed weakly. "Yes. It seems no one ever told him we ninja tend to kill our enemies." How Naruto's life would have turned out, had he a better team and Hayate as a sensei. All pairing types possible here. Parts from canon. Will be rewritten/fixed soon!
1. Uzumaki Naruto!

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 01: Uzumaki Naruto

The people of Konoha gathered beneath the Hokage monument to stare, stunned and angry, upon the young boy seen painting the great monument with graffiti and lewd comments… well, lewd for an 11 year old, anyway. The insults and angered cries began to taper off as the Hokage arrived at the scene and looked at the boy he failed so heavily.

'_If only they treated you as the hero you are, my boy…' _The Third Hokage sighed. Numerous ninja were within the crowd as well, and as always, the Third tried to listen for anything even remotely positive about Naruto.

Hearing someone laugh to his right, the Third turned to look at one of his ninja. "Kid's style ain't bad! Could've used more varieties, and better words than 'poo', but not bad!" the ninja laughed.

"Kotetsu, for once in your life…!" a ninja beside the laughing one groaned.

The Third couldn't help but smile. '_Leave it to those two_…_'_ His musings were broken as he arrived at the railing to hear someone's apology.

"Lord Hokage … I can't apologize enough…" the young man said as he leaned against the railing.

"Oh! Is that you, Iruka…?" the Hokage asked. Iruka was a kind young man, brunette, scar across his nose from one cheek to the other. '_It's too bad the man never made it past Chuunin.'_

"What do you think you're doing, you idiot? Get down from there and get back to class!" Iruka yelled, leaping onto the railing. _'Then again, he does have a way with the kids.' _The Hokage smiled.

The young boy, decked out in bright orange and black, with spiky, bright blonde hair, paled and started swinging his arms around in fear. '_It's my teacher, Iruka! I'm so screwed!' _he thought frantically. He flapped around so much, he wound up tangling himself in the rope.

It took three ninja to get him down safely.

* * *

Naruto scowled as he looked up at Iruka-sensei from his bound position on the floor. When he raised an eyebrow at him, Naruto grunted and turned his head to the side, towards the amused-looking class. 

"Tomorrow all your classmates will pass the finals and graduate from the Ninja Academy, but the last two times this day came around, you flunked every course you'd taken in the secret arts," Iruka growled at the blonde, as he pointed at Naruto and continued, "So you chose NOW for your stupid tricks? You MORON!"

Naruto snorted, and dryly replied, "Sir, yes, sir!" He almost laughed at the look of disbelief on Iruka-sensei's face, though Naruto have to give it to him. If he hated him like all the other villagers, he hid it better than most of them.

"Today in class we'll be reviewing the arts of illusion and apparition. All you have to do is… conjure a form that looks just like the teacher!" Iruka yelled at the class.

An almost deafening scream of, "WHAT?!" could be heard nearly on the other side of the village from the academy.

Once the students were all lined up, one by one they were called up for the demonstration. "Right. Well done," Iruka informed a student. "Next up, Uzumaki."

As Naruto stepped forward, he heard one genin behind him growl, "This is all your fault."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto sneered. _'This sucks! But here goes nothing…'_ He paused for a moment to concentrate, and then smirked as he called out "Change!!!"

Iruka froze, stunned, before he squeaked.

Standing before the teacher was a very naked female with long blonde hair in pigtails, bright blue eyes, tanned skin, and small wafts of smoke around her, thankfully covering all the naughty bits. Naruto burst out laughing. "I call this one the ninja centerfold!" he proclaimed as he changed back to normal.

Iruka just looked at him shocked for another moment before exploding. "HOW BIG A FOOL ARE YOU? You waste all your time and talent investing in these stupid tricks!" Naruto just stood there and let him berate him.

* * *

"Crap," Naruto growled. "Double crap." Naruto was dangling on a little platform on the Hokage monument, with a bottle of soapy water beside him. 

"You don't leave here until every drop of paint is gone!" Iruka yelled down at him.

Naruto looked up defiantly. "So? It's not like there's anyone waiting at home for me!"

Iruka winced, as Naruto got back to work. He wasn't the only shinobi to know what that kind of loneliness felt like. But then he had to wonder, _'How much worse is it for Naruto?' _As Naruto continued to work, for the first time, Iruka tried to imagine, truly imagine, what life was like for Naruto. From the hungry look the kid sported before to the hideous clothing, and the way he would be even more hyper than normal meeting someone, bouncing around, never getting close…

He spoke almost without realizing it, feeling a lump form in his throat. "Naruto…"

The blonde looked up with a disgruntled expression and asked, "What?"

Iruka looked away and lightly scratched at the edge of his scar as he stammered, "Well… Once you're through here… I'll… We could… I'll buy you some ramen."

Hearing Naruto freeze, Iruka paused his nervous scratching. Then, Naruto exclaimed, "Yeah BABY! Whoohooo!!! Talk about motivation!"

* * *

Many known faces of Konoha were filled with disgust, confusion and worry as they passed by Ichiraiku Ramen Bar, for inside sat well-respected chuunin Umino Iruka, side by side with the Demon Brat. 

Iruka turned to look at Naruto, ignoring the stares and glares from outside, wondering how bad it got without him. The energetic blonde was swallowing down noodles at a rate he'd only ever seen from an Akamichi before. "Naruto…"

Naruto made a curious noise, as he finished slurping more noodles.

"Why, of all places, did you choose to deface that spot? I mean, you do know who Lord Hokage is, right?" Iruka questioned. He could've sworn that was one lesson Naruto **did** pay attention to.

"Of course! To inherit the name Hokage, he'd have to have been the best shinobi in the entire village. The name Hokage _means_ dancing flames. It was the Fourth Lord Hokage who saved our village by finding a way to beat the demon fox." Naruto recited, surprising Iruka.

"Ok, then… why?" Iruka asked, flabbergasted.

"Because one of these days, they'll be calling me Lord Hokage!" Naruto declared, turning to face Iruka. He snapped his chopsticks towards the man and cried even louder, "I'm going to surpass every one who came before me! And when that day comes, everyone in town will have to kiss my ass!!"

Iruka just stared, stunned. He could swear he heard someone laughing their ass off at least a block away after that declaration. "…By the way… Iruka-sensei, I need a favor…"

"Another bowl of ramen?" Iruka smiled.

"Well, that too, but I wanted to borrow your leaf headband. Pretty please?" Naruto gave his best puppy dog eyes, but Iruka didn't fall for it.

"My… My hitai-ate? No. Not yet. No way. It's a badge of the shinobi, of adulthood. You don't get one until you graduate the academy, as you **should** be doing tomorrow," Iruka chuckled.

"Aw! No fair!" Naruto yelped, before being silenced by another bowl of ramen being placed before him.

* * *

Naruto sat at his desk, heart thumping madly. He knew he was in trouble, no matter the test. 

"For your final exam, you must each generate a bunshin! Wait here until your name is called and then come next door," Iruka called to the class. "While I'm not in the room, I expect you to stay quiet and in your seats, though I'll forgive some _light_ chatter. Just please, keep it down, I know you're all nervous and excited."

Naruto started suffering a minor panic attack. '_Bunshins? Why did it have to be doppelgangers? That's my worst technique!'_

Waiting for his turn was nerve-wracking, but finally he was called in. Naruto paused to look over the shiny, new, hitai-ates all lined up on the desk before Iruka-sensei and his assistant Mizuki-sensei. _'Here goes nothing…!'_

"Behold! A perfect double!" Naruto cried as the smoke sprung around him. When it cleared, Naruto had a vaguely disgusted expression on his face as he eyed his double. It was spread out across the floor, arms all akimbo, lifeless look in its too-blank eyes, tongue lolling out, and drool pooling on the floor. Naruto twitched, and barely suppressed a whimper.

Iruka just narrowed his eyes rather sadly for a moment before declaring angrily, "You fail!!!"

"Iruka-sensei… this **is** his third time, and he did manage to basically conjure up his other self, even if it was a little flawed… What if we just give him a break and…" Mizuki's soft voice questioned, his ever-present smile just a little warmer than normal.

Naruto looked up hopefully and looked between the two of them. "The answer is **no** Mizuki. Every student is supposed to create three perfect doppelgangers… Naruto barely produced one, and it was done very badly," Iruka proclaimed, waving Mizuki off. "With all due respect, his performance doesn't merit a passing grade. I'm sorry Naruto. Maybe next year."

* * *

Naruto sat on a swing by the academy and watched his fellow classmates celebrating their graduation with their families. It was probably one of the only times you'll ever see certain families in the same area without starting a huge argument. 

He saw Kiba prancing around, singing his own praises while what could only be his mother and sister took turns trying to calm him down some, the quiet Aburame off in one of the more quiet areas, the Akimichi loudly making plans for a big barbeque party that night…

"Great job, son. Your old man is proud!" He heard another voice laugh as he looked down to the dirt. "So now, we're all adults!" One of his classmates whooped. "Congratulations on graduating! Tonight, mom's gonna cook up a feast!"

"Hey, isn't that the kid who--?" an older girl asked. Naruto could already tell she was talking about him. "Yeah, that's him. The only one who failed!" another girl's voice answered. Naruto only sank down further in the swing as he heard them continue. "Serves him right…" "Can you imagine if they let someone like that become a shinobi…?!" "Loser…" "Don't even go there."

Unable to handle anymore, Naruto got up and fled, never noticing the pair of white eyes that watched him go.

"Iruka, could I have a word later…?" The Third softly questioned the teacher.

"Of course," Iruka sighed, watching Naruto until he left.

* * *

Perched upon a rooftop, Naruto tried to forget that this year, he failed again. He tried even harder than last year, and he still failed. 

"Naruto," he heard a soft voice call as someone landed beside him. Naruto finally turned to give Mizuki a bit of a look. Silver hair cut to his shoulders, a kind, soft face, and the regular Chuunin outfit made it easy to see why the girls in class gave their attention to him whenever Sasuke was unavailable.

"Iruka-sensei is a really serious guy… His parents died when he was young, so everything he's accomplished he's done by himself, with a lot of hard work and discipline," Mizuki said softly, turning with a kind smile to Naruto.

Naruto just shrugged. "So? What's that got to do with me?"

"So you remind him of himself." Mizuki laughed gently, catching Naruto's attention. "He thinks he's helping you to grow strong. Try to give the guy a break… Can't you understand where he's coming from? …One orphan to another...?"

Naruto looked down, and could feel the lump in his throat get bigger. Blinking back the stinging tears, Naruto murmured, "But… I really wanted to graduate this time."

Mizuki smiled. "Then… I guess there's no choice." Naruto looked up at him in confusion. "Let me tell you a secret that I've been keeping for a very long time…"

* * *

Naruto had very little trouble sneaking into the Hokage's house, for all the trouble this was supposed to be. Even when he was caught, all that was needed was the ninja centerfold technique, and he was able to get the scroll and get out. 

Landing in the clearing Mizuki told him too, he opened the scroll and groaned. The first technique was multiple kage bunshins…

In another part of town, Iruka laid awake, unable to sleep for the conflicting memories in his head. On one hand, he lost his parents to the fox. They lost the Fourth Hokage to the fox. Many great ninja were killed by the fox. On the other hand, Naruto was the container for the fox, not the fox itself, which he, himself, was only beginning to understand.

Hearing a knocking on his door, he went to answer it to hear disturbing news about Naruto while he was en route to the Hokage.

Landing amongst chuunin and jonin class ninjas only worried Iruka further. "The scroll he has taken is so dangerous that the First Hokage sealed it away! If misused, in the wrong hands, it could be deadly!" The Third sadly proclaimed. _'Oh Naruto, why have you done this…?' _"It was taken only a few hours ago. We have to find him!"

Immediately, all ninja save the Hokage split up to search the village; the Hokage headed inside to see if he could find Naruto his own way.

* * *

Sitting heavily down, Naruto sighed. He was nearly exhausted, but he thought he had the first technique down. Seeing a shadow above him, Naruto looked up, surprised, into Iruka's angry face. Naruto laughed weakly. "I guess you found me. Too bad; you were so fast, I've only managed to memorize one technique." 

Not wanting to jump to conclusions, Iruka swallowed and asked, "Naruto, what's up with that scroll you're carrying?"

"What, this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it, and this place. He said if I could master the techniques in this scroll… you'd let me be a shinobi!" Naruto grinned.

Iruka felt his heart nearly stop for a moment as that thought sunk in. A second later, he threw Naruto out of the way as a barrage of kunai was flung at him. Most missed as he was forced back against the shed; however, two got him in the left shoulder, one in his stomach, and two in each leg.

Naruto stared, shocked, as Iruka pulled out the first two kunai, before Mizuki interrupted. "The scroll, Naruto. Give it to me."

Naruto looked back at Iruka as he pried another kunai out. "Don't let him have it, Naruto! Protect that scroll with your life! It's more dangerous than you can imagine! It holds the record of a completely forbidden ninja art! Mizuki used you because he wants it for himself!!" Iruka continued to free himself of kunai; he still had quite a few pinning him.

Naruto sprang to his feet with a gasp, turning to face Mizuki warily. "Naruto, even if you've read it, it will still be meaningless! I can show you what it means!" Mizuki laughed. His once kind expression had been twisted into something ugly and full of hate.

Screaming for Mizuki to shut up, Iruka continued freeing himself of kunai, hoping he would be fast enough for whatever Mizuki had planned.

"You… know what _really_ happened in the incident where the fox demon was taken care of twelve years ago, don't you…?" Mizuki purred from his branch high above them. "Since that incident… the people of our village have been bound by the strictest decree."

Naruto, heart pumping madly, had a feeling he wouldn't like where this was going. "I don't remember any decree…" Naruto swallowed.

"You wouldn't," Mizuki sneered. "Part of that decree was that everyone would know about it… except you!" Mizuki just burst into roaring laughter as Naruto demanded to know what he was talking about. "That no one must tell you… that you… are the nine-tailed demon fox!!" Mizuki yelled at him.

Naruto felt as if the floor were just pulled out from beneath his feet. "What…?" he whispered.

Previously frozen in horror, Iruka screamed once more for Mizuki to stop.

"In other words, you are the nine-tailed demon fox who destroyed this village! It was you who murdered Iruka's family! Until, at last, our beloved hero, the Fourth Lord Hokage, trapped and bound you in this form at the cost of his own life!" Mizuki yelled, getting louder to be heard over Iruka's screams to stop it. "Since then you've been made a fool of by everyone in town! Didn't you think it was _strange_? To be so **despised** everywhere you went? By people you didn't know? IF HE WERE _HONEST_, EVEN _NOBLE_ IRUKA WOULD ADMIT HE **HATES** YOU TOO!!" Mizuki screamed, pulling out and preparing to throw a large throwing star.

Naruto began cursing up a storm as he fell flat on his ass, crying angrily as Mizuki continued. "You never knew a parent's love… Since the day of your rebirth you've been shunned by our entire village! No one could bear an abomination like you! The best you could ever hope for was attention, not love… And you could only get that by doing things that would get you into trouble! And you didn't care. You were willing to accept any criticism, any condemnation, so long as it meant that someone was paying attention to you. That scroll you've stolen… it was the instrument to your bondage!! It was a brilliant performance Naruto… but it was all a sham, to hide you loneliness… and PAIN!! IT ENDS **NOW**!!!" Mizuki screamed, letting the large throwing star fly.

Iruka, who already had been hit by many kunai that night, threw himself bodily between the weapon and the young blond, and the massive blade went through his back. He could feel blood splatter around him, and more blood slip from between his lips, but he held strong, a barrier between Naruto and the traitor.

Naruto stared up at Iruka, stunned, as drops of blood slid down to land on Naruto's face. "…What…?" Naruto whispered, completely overwhelmed.

Iruka saw his own lonely childhood flash before his eyes as he felt the weapon hit him, and opened his tear-filled eyes as he heard Naruto's enquiry. "…I…" He took a second to swallow the lump enough to talk, "I know that, Naruto. I was so hard on you, yelling, scolding, it must have hurt… Forgive me," he sobbed. "Forgive me. If I'd have been a better teacher… a better self… Maybe neither of us would have come to this."

Naruto just stared, stunned up at Iruka, and in a rare moment of clarity, he knew what he had to do. He got out from under Iruka and took off. _'I'm sorry too Iruka-sensei, but you told me to protect this scroll, so that's what I'm gonna do!' _"Naruto!" He heard Iruka cry out behind him.

Iruka staggered to get into a kneeling position without jostling the throwing star. He could hear Mizuki laughing as he landed. "What a pity… But I'm afraid, once Naruto sets his mind to something, he can't be dissuaded. He's going to use the scroll to take his revenge on the village! Did you see the look in the bastard's eyes? Those were the eyes of the demon fox!"

Iruka grunted in pain as he pulled the throwing star out of his back. He couldn't help but chuckle through the pain. "You… don't… know… Naruto… at all!" Iruka gasped, forcing himself to his feet.

"I don't have to know the boy to kill him! It's the scroll I'm after now. I'll finish you later!" Mizuki yelled, taking off after Naruto.

Iruka just quickly pulled the last of the kunai out. _'You can __**try**.'_

* * *

The Hokage found Naruto in his crystal ball just before Iruka found him, in order to hear Mizuki's entire plan. _'So he knows now. There is always the terrible possibility that the awesome power of the Kyuubi could break free of its bonds and fully restore its demon form… however, I have faith in Naruto.'_

So said, the Hokage called the search party, minus Iruka, off, and told them of the traitor Mizuki and that it was he who stole the scroll.

Watching the disbelief and disgust crawl over most of the gathered ninja's expression, the Third couldn't help but sigh. '

* * *

As Iruka darted through the trees, he soon spotted Naruto. "Naruto!" he cried. "Quickly!! Give me the scroll!! It's what Mizuki's after!!" 

Naruto just glared, and body checked Mizuki across a good distance and into the ground. Iruka just staggered to try and get up from the ground. "…Y-you… What's wrong, Naruto?" A moment later 'Iruka' was revealed to be Mizuki, "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?!"

Naruto laughed and vanished into smoke to reveal Iruka. "Because I am." The exhausted chuunin panted from his sprawl at the base of the tree.

Mizuki's sneer grew even bigger. "I see…"

Naruto, the real one, watched, clutching the scroll to his chest from behind a tree nearby.

Mizuki began to laugh. "So noble! Saving your parent's murderer… and for what? What happens if we let him live?"

"Then maybe the scroll is safe from a complete scumbag," Iruka panted.

"You're a fool. Naruto and I are two of a kind," Mizuki purred, and then smirked at Iruka's confused expression. "I can use the scroll to achieve the same kind of limitless power! The demon within him hungers for that kind of strength! You were right to fear him… Despise him…" Mizuki laughed.

Naruto just looked down sadly, feeling his heart break again. _'So it's true… Iruka-sensei really holds me…in contempt.'_

"Maybe I do hate the fox…" Iruka proclaims proudly, catching Naruto's attention. "But not Naruto. Not the boy. For him, I have nothing but respect. He's an _excellent_ student. He works with all his might… But sometimes, even so, he's awkward, clumsy… a screw-up… people have mocked and shunned him… And it's given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain. He gets back up no matter what's thrown at him. That boy is not your demon fox!" Naruto had broken into silent sobs by this point. "He is… A citizen of Konohagakure village… Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto felt himself cry, but he felt his heart mend and beat fiercely. He now knew what it felt like to be cared for…

"Aww! That is so sweet! Just hearing you say all that bullshit makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!" Mizuki sneered. "Well Iruka… I had planned to save you 'till last… But sometimes things just don't turn out the way you plan, so… " Pulling back on the second throwing star, and aiming straight for the exhausted Iruka's chest, Mizuki prepared to let it fly. His aim was thrown way off kilter however, because Naruto leapt out of the trees and kicked him hard in the chin just before he let the star go.

The weapon imbedded itself far up the tree, and deep enough in to not risk it coming down. Landing before Iruka, Naruto kept his attention focused firmly on Mizuki, not seeing the shocked look on Iruka's face as he stood between the two older men. _'Now it's my turn to protect you, Iruka.'_

Mizuki staggered to his feet, stunned at the force of impact for a moment, before he got up to glare at the blonde.

"Keep away from Iruka-sensei… or _**I'LL KILL YOU**_!" Naruto snarled at the traitor.

"No! Naruto! You should have stayed away! Get out of here! Save yourself!" Iruka yelled at him.

"Loudmouth brat!! **I CAN KILL YOU WITH ONE BLOW**!!" Mizuki screamed.

"Bring it on, you big asshole! Anything you throw at me, I'm gonna make you **eat**!" Naruto taunted, making the hand seals for the technique he needed.

"You're welcome to try, little fox!" Mizuki screamed, preparing to charge him.

A moment later, Iruka's eyes nearly bugged out as Naruto performed the kage bunshin technique… flawlessly… and in the hundreds…

Mizuki looked around himself wildly. "What…? How did he…?"

"What's the matter tough guy? Come and get me!" Numerous Narutos started in with the taunts, as Iruka stared at him, shocked. Mizuki whimpered pathetically before the herd of Narutos descended upon him.

'_Amazing! He not only generated a thousand bunshins… but made them solid, flesh-and-blood instead of shadowy illusion. That's the highest caliber shinobi art… I wouldn't be surprised if some day he really __**does**__ turn out to be better than any Hokage who's come before!'_ Lost in thought, Iruka conveniently missed Mizuki's screams of anguish as hundreds of pissed off blonde genins beat the snot out of him.

"I guess I got carried away," Naruto sheepishly laughed, catching Iruka's attention. He had to restrain the grin at how Mizuki looked now. Silver hair fluffed and frazzled, splattered with blood from his obviously broken nose, black and blue all over…

Iruka sat up and smiled. "Naruto, come here. I've got a present for you. Close your eyes."

After a few moments, the sound of rustling, and feeling something being done to his goggles, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Now, sensei, may I…?"

"Yes, Naruto. You can open your eyes now." Iruka smiled. Naruto stared at the goggles in Iruka's hand and his sensei's bare forehead as Iruka couldn't help but smile even wider. "Congratulations… You _graduate_!" Naruto just stared at him, stunned, as he continued, "To celebrate this, I'll take you out for ramen!"

Naruto just stared at him for a few more moments before pouncing at the chuunin.

'_Now that you're a full-fledged shinobi, things will only get more difficult…' _Or, at least, that was the speech Iruka planned to give, but he decided it could wait until the restaurant.

* * *

Beta read by: Magus Hecate 


	2. Team Division

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 02: Team Division

Naruto woke up, just like he did every morning: by stretching like a cat with a humongous yawn before rolling clear off the bed onto the cold, hard floor. "Ow."

Dragging himself through his morning routine – shower, dress, eat – Naruto wandered back into the bathroom to look in awe at his hitai-ate again. For a moment, he contemplated dressing up and putting on face paint for his ninja picture, before deciding against it. Even he didn't want to look like a moron in the yearbook.

Picking up his hitai-ate, he put it on and then headed to the area where their graduation photos would be taken.

When it came time for his turn, Naruto settled into his seat and gave the photographer his usual foxy grin instead of the professional looks his classmates tried for. As he the photographer shook his head, Naruto's grin only grew wider.

As the photographer set the camera and told him to say "Cheese!" it took all of Naruto's self control to keep from laughing. The guy sounded so bored.

After the picture was taken, Naruto was given both the photo and a sheet of paper and told to go see the Hokage to fill out the rest of his information.

Arriving in the room with the old man, Naruto answered all his questions after handing over the sheet so the Hokage could make sure everything was written correctly – by writing down what Naruto said.

"I'm glad to see things seem to be going well for you, Naruto." The Hokage smiled. "You had me worried for a while. And you'll be pleased to note you've already got a C-class mission under your belt from taking on Mizuki. As he was a Chuunin, he should have been far above a Genin's capabilities, even with another Chuunin backing you up. As such, this village owes you its thanks. Without you, Mizuki would likely have succeeded."

Naruto just grinned, but looked to the door in confusion as the it creaked open slowly. A moment later, a young boy leapt in, screaming, "On guard, old man! Right?!" only to ruin his entrance a moment later by tripping over his own feet. Following the boy was a man in the black jumpsuit of a Chuunin, his hitai-ate worn like a bandanna over his black hair, and small, round, black sunglasses, rather similar to one of Naruto's classmates'.

As the kid hit the ground with a cry of "OWWW!" Naruto looked from the embarrassed Hokage to the interrupting duo in the doorway. "I get it! It's a trap? Right?!" the boy cried, sitting up and holding his head.

Shoving his sunglasses up his nose with his middle finger, the man in black swiftly asked, "A-are you alright, Honored Grandson? And for the record, there are no traps here!"

Naruto sported a disbelieving expression on his face as he looked from the man to the kid. "What's going on? Who's the kid? And who's the geek?" Naruto asked.

"Kid?" the kid yelped.

The man whipped around to stare in surprise and then disgust at Naruto. The Hokage just watched the scene with a growing sense of dread.

"Aha, so **you** tripped me! It was you! Right?!" the kid cried, just before Naruto grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"You fell over your own feet!!" Naruto yelled back.

"Unhand him, Demon! That boy happens to be Konohamaru, the grandson of our revered Third Lord Hokage!" the man cried, joining the yelling and pointing at the Hokage, who looked like he'd love to be anywhere but in the room at the moment.

Turning to look back down at the kid, Naruto almost laughed as the kid challenged, "So? Take your best shot! I dare you!"

"Like I care, stupid!" Naruto yelled right back, dropping him to the ground to soundly smack him over the head.

Konohamaru cried in pain again, while the man looked like he'd suffer heart failure. The Hokage, on the other hand, considered the two kids. Once everyone calmed down, the Hokage began to introduce everyone. The man's name happened to be Ebisu.

He asked the two to go over to the corner or something for a moment so he could speak to Ebisu. They both shrugged, and Konohamaru followed Naruto over, answering Naruto's question as to why he did that earlier with his reply of, "…My name, Konohamaru… my grandfather named me. Like the village, right? He said it would bring me luck… But even though everyone in the village knows my name, no one ever calls me that! It's always just 'Honored Grandson'. No one ever sees me for who I am, just who I'm related to, and I hate it! But it'll be different when I become Lord Hokage, and that's gonna be real soon!"

Naruto snorted. "No way! Who'd respect a Hokage like you? It's too big a name for such a little guy!"

Konohamaru angrily yelped, "What?!"

"You idiot! It won't be easy to win the name of Hokage! You don't get it just because you want it! You'll have to wait your turn…!" Naruto informed him.

"And then…?!" Konohamaru snarled at him.

"And then take the name away… from **ME**!" Naruto smirked at him. As Konohamaru gave Naruto a stunned look, Naruto continued. "You think wanting is all it takes? Dream on! You're talking about the name of Hokage! That's the greatest shinobi in the entire village, the one everyone respects! My whole life, it's been one thing after another! I even doubted myself! Only one person treated me with any kind of respect! And even he… was almost impossible to win over! The only way to become Hokage is to commit yourself. To work your ass off, to never give up. To become Hokage, **there are no shortcuts**!! Do you get it?"

As Konohamaru stared after him stunned, Naruto got up and left after waving to the old man. Had he have looked up, he'd have seen a look of pride upon the Hokage's face, and one of stunned amazement on Ebisu's.

* * *

The Third Hokage looked upon the four faces upon the mountainside as he often did when his thoughts became too much to handle. _'You look so much like __**him**__, Naruto. But if it's true, why do only I seem to realize it?...'_

"Lord Hokage, there you are. I've been looking all over for you," Iruka called, landing behind the Hokage and breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Ah, Iruka, hello. Are you healing alright?" the Hokage inquired, turning to give the bandages wrapped around the teacher's neck and the sides of his head a worried look. He had apparently replaced his forehead protector at some point.

"Oh! Yes, I'm fine. What I wanted to ask you was if Naruto handed in his ninja registration photo and information page?" Iruka asked.

The Hokage smiled. "Yes Iruka, he did."

"Yesterday, I treated Naruto to a stern lecture over his beloved ramen. He's been on cloud nine since he received my hitai-ate and graduated. He intends to become a full-fledged shinobi and earn the respect of the town. He also intends to be the best Hokage our village has ever seen." Iruka chuckled.

The Hokage just looked out over the village and sighed. "That may be difficult for him to realize." He paused at Iruka's confused expression and continued. "Only we who were adults at the time of the great battle know the truth, that the boy Naruto is the human container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune that tormented our people until its defeat twelve years ago. Disclosure of that secret is most strictly forbidden… under pain of the severest penalty our laws can inflict. As a result, the children of our village know nothing of the truth. Among his peers at least, Naruto's secret is safe, though the parents' hostility seems to have been picked up on and carried by the children anyway." The Hokage sighed deeply in regret. "…It was the fondest wish of the Fourth Hokage that our people come to regard Naruto as their savior and hero. He made that wish for him, sealed the child's fate… and died."

Iruka stared stunned at the Hokage. "A hero?"

"He selected a newborn child – the umbilical cord freshly cut, and bound all the Nine Tails' power within the infant's navel. Naruto was sacrificed for our safety, to become a living vessel for the imprisonment of the Fox, but that is not the way the adults who know choose to see it… Instead, their treatment of the boy is so contemptuous and hostile – it has been picked up on by children who have no idea of the truth, picked up on and perpetuated!" Almost as an afterthought, the Third continued on. "Iruka… can you imagine…?"

Iruka swallowed thickly. "Imagine what?"

"How it must feel… so much hatred, and hostility… to be treated with an animosity so intense as to be annihilating… to have around you so many who would deny you even the right to exist…"

Iruka just stared at the Hokage in horror. He knew last night he had made the right choice in reaching out for Naruto. Now, however, how he _wished_ he had reached out sooner…

* * *

Naruto just sat in his seat and attempted to ignore the girls giggling and drooling over the bastard next to him. When it went quiet, he knew Iruka-sensei had arrived.

"From this day forward, you are no longer students of the ninja arts, but full-fledged shinobi, but among the ranks of the shinobi, you are mere novices, the lowest of the low. Genin. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead." Iruka intoned, looking directly at Naruto for the last part. "The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village. We will begin by dividing you into three-man cells, each of which will be mentored by a jounin, a more senior ninja…" Iruka paused to sweep his eyes over everyone again, and started to smile slightly. "…who will guide and coach you as you become familiar with your various assignments."

Iruka had to stop here as the whole room exploded with noise. _'Just don't put me with Sasuke-teme. Sakura'd be nice though…' _Naruto couldn't help but hope.

Naruto listened for the placements of the first 5 cells. No one he knew was in them.

"Cell 6 will be made up of Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino," Iruka continued, and Naruto almost laughed. '_Shikamaru, whose skipped class with me before, paired with Ino? Poor bastard.'_

"Cell 7 will be made up of Uchicha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba." Even Iruka had to wince at the shriek of glee from Sakura, and the screams of indignation from the other girls in the class over Sasuke's team. Kiba just cursed his luck.

"Cell 8," Iruka continued once silence commenced, looking at Naruto for a moment, "– will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino." _'Well, that's not so bad,' _Naruto thought, smiling_. 'Hinata's nice, if really quiet, and Shino… well, he's never caused a problem for me.'_

Once Iruka-sensei finished announcing the teams, and gave a few more minutes for silence to rein once more after a well-placed yell on his part, he continued. "Ok, everyone. I'll be introducing your senior ninjutsu instructors this afternoon. Until then, you're dismissed!"

* * *

"Hayate, have a seat," the Hokage informed his guest.

A sickly young man with pale skin and bags under his eyes walked in. He had brunette hair falling down in uneven locks to his shoulders from under his hitai-ate, worn like a bandanna. Warm brown eyes, perpetually small from strain, focused easily on the leader of the village. He wore the standard ninja attire for Chuunin and Jounin alike, and had a katana sheathed and strapped to his waist. At the Hokage's request, he sat down. "You wished to see me, Lord Hokage?" Hayate couldn't help the coughing that erupted at the end.

"Yes. I would like you to be a jounin instructor this year. Do you think you can handle it?" The Hokage asked.

"Of course I can," Hayate said, straightening up and struggling to keep both his cough and anger in check. "I'm sick, not an invalid, though I wonder why you ask this year, after so many times before."

The Hokage smiled sadly. _'Always so proud…' _"I know you can Hayate. However, the team you'd be assigned would be rather… unconventional. Despite the other two team members, you would also have Uzumaki Naruto on your squad."

"The demon container?" Hayate asked, surprised. "Why me?"

"Aside from the fact you just answered your own question…" The Hokage chuckled at the confounded expression on the man's face. "You see him as he is, not as a monster. There are precious few who would see him as such. Aside from that, I think you would be a good teacher for him. Learning the art of the sword may aid him immensely."

Hayate thought about things for a moment before agreeing. "Very well. I can see where learning the patience and discipline required may aid him, at least."

"Excellent. I knew I chose right in you." The Hokage smiled.

"And the other two…?" Hayate asked calmly. The Hokage smiled.

* * *

Naruto entered class, and paused, his usual seat taken by another person with their team, he guessed, beside them. He allowed his gaze to roam around, and caught sight of Shino from where he stood. Hinata didn't seem to be back yet, so he wandered over, and slid in beside him.

"Hi." Naruto smiled, looking at his new teammate. "Name's Naruto, but ya probably already knew that." He said with a sheepish grin, trying to be friendly and holding out his hand.

For a moment, he didn't reply. "Shino, of the Aburame clan." He said calmly, accepting Naruto's handshake, and then he felt the bugs. Naruto looked down at their hands startled, then asked, "Bugs? How'd…"

But he seemed about as startled over something as Naruto was about the bugs coming OUT of his hand. After a moment, they both drop the handshake, a little embarrassed they held it so long. "Maybe I'll explain when we know each other better," Shino states. "But you're not afraid of the bugs…?"

"Nah." Naruto laughed. After all, it was so much creepier when the villagers were in a mob…

Hinata walked in a few moments later, breaking the companionable silence between him and Shino as she slipped into the empty seat next to him. She was bright red.

"Hello. Name's Naruto," Naruto chirped at her, hoping to get off to a good start with her too. Though he didn't understand why she jumped and turned even redder.

"H-Hinata. Ni-Nice to m-meet you," she stammered, looking down at her desk. Naruto grinned. _'Well, it's a start, I guess…'_

About that time, the Hokage and Iruka-sensei entered, followed by a few jounin. Most of the class immediately sat up just a little bit straighter. Everybody listened, or attempted to listen, to the Hokage's speech, something about pride of the village, adults now, blah, blah, blah. Naruto spaced out for the first five teams again, and zoned in to hear from team 6 on.

"Team 6, as you remember, is Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino. Your Jounin instructor will be Sarutobi Asuma." Iruka said, as a bearded man stepped forwards, an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru got up and followed him out. Ino didn't look pleased.

"Team 7, consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba will be training under Jounin instructor Hatake Kakashi. He's not here right now." Iruka paused to glare at the chuckling Hokage. "You're to meet him here in about 3 hours. You three are dismissed until then." All three got up and went their separate ways.

"Team 8, made up of Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino. Your Jounin instructor is Gekkou Hayate." A brunette man stepped forwards, and coughed as he looked at his new team. He looked sickly, but even Naruto wouldn't call him frail. He also had a sword attached to his waist. Naruto was the first out of his seat and lead his team out after their new instructor, Hinata to his left and Shino to his right.

Behind them, Naruto could hear Iruka-sensei start on the next team, until they got outside. Hayate led the team in silence, save his coughing, to a secluded part of the forest near the edge of the village. It was a large clearing, at least the size of a house, with nothing inside it. There were no rocks, logs, or any other objects. However, the trees looked kind of beat up.

"Alright, now if you three wouldn't mind sitting down in front of me, we can get started," Hayate said calmly. Hayate sat down on the ground, and motioned them into a semicircle on the ground in front of him before continuing. "I want you to tell me a little bit about yourselves. Likes, dislikes, dreams, etcetera. I suppose I'll start. I like a lot of things, I dislike my illness, my dream is to be the best swords master in the world. I've never trained a Genin team before, but I'll do the best I can by all three of you," Hayate said with a slight smile as he looked at them, coughing at the end of his speech.

Naruto looked at his teammates and shrugged. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, and learning new jutsus. I dislike Sasuke-teme. My dream is to be the best Hokage this village has seen yet!" Hayate gave Naruto an encouraging grin, before turning to Hinata.

"A-Ano…Um, I-I like courageous p-people, I-I dislike… U-um… my d-dream is to m-make my f-f-father proud," Hinata squeaked, looking away, missing the smile from Hayate.

"I like my kikaichu. I dislike people who hate bugs. I will be as good as, or better than, my father when I take over the Aburame clan," Shino stated.

After coughing again, Hayate stood up. "Well, I've certainly got an interesting team. Naruto, don't give up, and someday, you'll manage your dream. Hinata, we WILL help you to get over your nervousness somehow. You have every reason to hold your head up proud. Shino, I have no doubt you can do as you wish with a lot of hard work. I know your father; he's a great man. I know you can be just as good," Hayate told them proudly. Even his coughing didn't subtract from the statement.

He paused to look around at his new team. "Meet me back here at 8 am sharp tomorrow. Bring whatever weapons you usually carry. If you don't have many yet, don't worry, we'll remedy that soon; just bring what you've got."

All three of them got to their feet, offered a slight bow and a chorus of agreeing noises to their new sensei, and headed their separate ways for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Hayate! So good of you to finally join us!" a man laughed, opening the door wide. He had wild black hair in all directions, and bandages wrapped over his nose and around his chin. His bright green eyes sparkled.

"Sorry, Kotetsu. I've been roped into being a Jounin instructor this year. Interesting team, too." Hayate laughed, stepping past his pouting friend.

"Aww! That means we won't be seeing much of you for a while, huh? Damn, you won't even be a proctor for the Chuunin exam until your team passes!" Kotetsu whined, following his friend into his apartment and leading him to the kitchen.

"Leave him alone, Ko. Y'know, maybe _we_ should try and get teams of Genin someday. Think of _all_ the possibilities." A man laughed from where he stood before the stove, preparing their food. As he turned around with plates in hand, he was revealed to be tall and slender, with dark brown hair falling thickly over his dark brown right eye.

Kotetsu laughed wildly. "So, who's in your team, old friend?"

Hayate grinned and took his usual seat. "Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Uzumaki Naruto." He sat back with a rather satisfied smile. "I think they're going to do just fine."

Kotetsu threw a look to his partner. "I dunno. What do you think, Izumo? I think he's got his work cut out for 'im."

Izumo set their food down, and shook his head. "How's Yugao taking the news? You know she's not fond of the kid…"

Hayate sighed. "That's why I haven't told her yet. I knew I couldn't say no when the Hokage asked me, but I'm even more convinced now. Something about the kid… He's not the fox, I can tell you that now. I've got a crueler streak in me than he does."

"And if that doesn't say something, nothing will!" Kotetsu laughed. "I liked the blonde the moment I saw him dangling from the Hokage monument!"

Izumo just smiled softly. "I've seen him around town before. You should see the way the villagers treat him…! I've chased a good few away from him before who meant serious harm to the child. Back when he would have been about… oh… five or six, I think, there were a few Chuunin who tried to kill the kid, and I've always been proud to say I escorted the men to Ibiki personally. I doubt Naruto would remember me, though. He was so sweet, even back then. I've never forgotten him."

Kotetsu and Hayate shared a grin at Izumo's expense. "Maybe someday soon you should bring the kid over here with ya Hayate. Izumo might want to say hi!"

Kotetsu rapidly had to duck a smack to the head from a grinning Izumo. "No matter, I agree. Sometime soon, just bring him over. Or your whole team, I wouldn't mind." Izumo chuckled.

Hayate smiled, and they continued to talk about interesting things for the rest of the meal. As they finished up, Hayate stood up and sighed. "Sorry guys, but it's time for me to head home and talk to Yugao."

Both Izumo and Kotetsu winced. "Talk with her man, but don't back down if you really do believe in the kid. I think he could use someone to back him up," Kotetsu pointed out.

Izumo fully agreed. "If worst comes to worst, you're always welcome here."

Hayate winced. "If worst comes to worst, I'll be in too many pieces to worry."

The other two laughed as they walked Hayate out. As Hayate left his friends behind for the night, and headed home, he couldn't help but worry about what his girlfriend would say.

As Hayate stepped inside his appartment, he sighed at seeing Yugao sitting on the couch, glaring. _'Who told her…?'_ he mused sadly. _'I could have done damage control had she heard it from me.'_

"The Demon Brat. You were assigned the damn _**DEMON BRAT**_?!" Yugao cried, leaping angrily to her feet, her blue eyes flashing with rage. _'Even in a rage',_ Hayate mused_, 'she's so beautiful.'_ Her long purple hair, grown down to her waist, made her identifiable even in full ANBU uniform. She was one of the few women in the Hunter branch of the ANBU.

"Yugao, listen to me. Naruto's no more a demon than I am. He's one of the sweetest kids I've ever met," Hayate calmly argued.

"That monster killed my family Hayate, made me the last of the Uzuki line! Even if we were a minor clan, we were still a clan! He even killed my sister, and that's the part I really **can't** forgive!"

"The _fox_ killed your family Yugao, not Naruto, he wasn't even _born_ then!" Hayate cried. His respect for Naruto had grown leaps and bounds over the course of the day.

Yugao narrowed her eyes in anger. "Damn it Hayate! Listen to yourself! You're protecting a monster!"

Hayate just gave her a sad look and sighed. "No Yugao, listen to yourself instead. You're condemning a child for what a monster has done. A monster he's the jailor of, in fact." He paused to watch Yugao's unchanging expression sadly. He could feel his heart crack in a way he knew wouldn't be mended until she accepted that Naruto wasn't worthy of her hatred, and blinked back the tears. "Goodnight Yugao." He sighed sadly.

She snorted angrily. "Goodnight. I'm staying at my own appartment." She turned around and left.

Hayate went into his room and slid down onto his bed to try and blink back the tears. He knew he had done the right thing, but it still hurt so much…

* * *

Beta read by: Magus Hecate 


	3. Reconciliation

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 03: Reconciliation

Naruto swiftly headed to the place the team had met last night as Hayate-sensei instructed them. He even arrived early, at 7:45am, and grinned over at Shino. After a moment, Shino nodded back. Naruto had to admit, he was a little worried. The only weapons he had, thus all he could bring, is a single shuriken pouch, 9 shuriken within, and 2 kunai. None of them are very sharp. Most were actually too dull to be of use.

Hinata showed up at about ten to eight and Naruto offered up a wave. She turned red again, but came over to sit with the other two members of the team. They all sat in companionable silence as they waited for Hayate-sensei to arrive. Naruto wasn't sure what it was about his new team, but he didn't feel like he had to act like an idiot to get their attention. He felt like he already had it.

At exactly 8, a swirl of leaves appeared in the center of the clearing, and their coughing sensei stepped out. He had a large bag over his shoulder, his sword and its sheath in his hand. He hung the sword on a branch to one side and walked over to his genin squad. "Good morning everyone." Hayate smiles, as he put down the bag. "First, I'm going to inspect your weapons, then I'll loan you some of mine to help you. After which, there will be a test to determine if you really are fit to be genin yet."

Naruto swallowed thickly and fidgeted. "Hinata, you first." Hayate called. She nearly triped on her way up, but handed him 2 shuriken pouches, and 6 kunai. He inspects them for a moment, and declared them good.

"Shino, your turn." Shino walked up and handed his over. Hayate reached into the bag and withdrew two more kunai for him.

"Naruto?" Naruto sighed, but walked up and handed his over. He just shook his head and gave Naruto a look. "If you pass the test, stay behind after today, alright Naruto? Until then, you can borrow some of mine." He offered, coughing, as he tosses Naruto's aside. He reached into his bag and grabs 18 shuriken that Naruto quickly slips into the pouched provided, and 6 kunai. Naruto smiled slightly and steped back with the others as Hayate now tosses his bag beneath his sword.

"Every jonin instructor can modify the test, however they so wish. The one constant is that there is always a 66 percent chance of failure for everyone. Anyone who cannot pass the test must report back to the academy for further training." Hayate explains, looking over them. Even Shino seemed slightly worried.

"My chosen format for the test is this. However you so chose, before 2 pm today, you must draw blood. My blood. Even a scratch will suffice. To make it a little more possible, I _won't_ use my sword. A ninja must learn to see beneath the illusions, beneath the lies, even beneath the truth. I wish you good luck, as there's a trick to managing this test. Any questions?" Hayate looks rather amused at all of them. "No? Then good. You have 5 minutes. Then I'm coming in after you." All three of them paled as Hayate said that. They all split and bolted for the forest.

* * *

Naruto bolted into the forest as fast as he could and ran for all he was worth for about ten minutes. The forest seemed to blur past, but all Naruto cared about was that he saw neither his teammates nor his sensei. 

Finally deciding he was far enough, Naruto created nine clones. He sent each, as well as himself, up into different trees to hide and wait for his sensei to find him. _'Even I'm not dumb enough to think I can take on a jonin easily. He said there's a trick to it, but what…?'_

The boy nearly fell out of the tree when he sensed four of his clones vanish in rapid succession. _'O__h__ crap!'_

Naruto swiftly leapt out of the tree with his remaining clones down onto the forest floor. Once there, his clones and himself had to dodge a barrage of shuriken and then leapt in the direction the projectiles were coming from. Two more clones were destroyed in the attempt; however, he did spot Hayate. Landing on different branches surrounding their amused instructor, the four Narutos all leapt for him at the same time.

Nimbly dodging out of the way of all four, Hayate laughed, "Not bad, but not good enough, Naruto!"

Naruto growled, and quickly created more clones. Once more, the total, including himself being ten, he launched again for Hayate. Too many to dodge this time, as they were circling him again, he grabbed the first one by the ankle and threw it into the second, both of which flew into a tree and were destroyed. The third was destroyed when its face met Hayate's foot and then a different tree. Narutos four, five and six were leapt over, and then seven and eight were landed on, vanishing with a swift 'poof'. Naruto nine tried to leap at him from above, and had been slammed into by four, five and six on their next attempt, causing it to vanish. As four, five and six all tried, unsuccessfully, to hit their sensei, he didn't notice Naruto ten leap at him from behind.

As ten landed on his back, Hayate smirked and turned so that Naruto four punched it with all its might, causing ten to vanish. Now wondering where the real Naruto is, while turning still to cause Naruto four to fly to the side, Hayate prepared for the last three's attempt.

Naruto six met a swift end after leaping ahead of the other two and meeting the brunt of a kick into a tree. Spinning into a crouch, Hayate watched an annoyed clone sail over him. Guessing the last one coming at him was Naruto, he grabbed the charging Naruto by the wrist and twisted down to plant his face into the dirt.

As thus, he was rather startled when he was tackled from behind just as the Naruto he had pinned 'poofed' out of existence with a smirk. Landing face first on the ground, he couldn't help but laugh, "Clever. But not clever enough."

Naruto blinked at being left holding a log, with Hayate nowhere in sight. "_Damn_ it!!"

* * *

Hinata ran through the forest, and attempted to come up with a plan. _'The closer range I can get him, the better my chances are'_. Landing on a branch, she then leapt to the ground and activated her byakugan. Searching for Hayate, she gasped quietly as she watched the fight against Naruto. _'N-__Naruto-kun…'_

So engrossed in watching the fight, she almost missed when Hayate left. Thus, she was unprepared for the kunai that landed at her feet as a warning. "Concentrate Hinata." Hayate said.

Hinata leapt for Hayate with a determined, "R-right." Landing before the interested jonin, she started to attempt to fight him using what she had so-far mastered of the Gentle Fist style.

Taking a swift swing at her sensei's arm, she was unsurprised when he leapt to the next branch and as thus, easily followed. She was, however, unprepared for the kick to the gut upon landing that sent her sailing into another tree. Sliding down to the ground with a soft, "ow," Hinata sprung back up to try to do as she must – somehow draw his blood.

Grabbing her shuriken, she let them fly at him in a wide arc and followed swiftly in their wake. Her byakugan re-activated, she aimed to take out his left arm, at least in part, by hitting the shoulder. He moved too fast, but Hinata couldn't help a smile of pride – she had closed the chakra point on his right elbow instead, but it was a start.

Her moment of concentration cost her, however, as a moment later, she was sent flying after being thrown by her arm into the woods. When she hit the tree and slid down that time, it took her a moment to focus again. Reactivating her byakugan, she realized she was alone once more.

* * *

Shino swiftly darted through the forest in search of a battleground that would suit him. _'This doesn't seem right. Why would we be placed onto three-man teams, and then separated right after?'_

Finding a suitable area after about ten minutes, he leapt to the forest floor. Calling a few of his kikaichu out, he had them spread throughout the area and warn him when anyone approaches. Once that was accomplished, he swiftly found a suitable hiding spot hidden beneath a tree's gnarled roots. More than enough room within his chosen hideaway to escape or fight as needed.

A moment later he heard a faint cry of "_Damn_ it!!" And realized Naruto must have been defeated. _'Not good. On sheer power alone, I know __Naruto's__ likely the strongest of us. __Hinata's__ true skills lie in her __nearly __360 sight, as well as her __taijutsu style__, and my own skills in taijutsu and __Ninjutsu__ are weak at best. The __Aburame__ clan has long been trackers. That's not to say we're useless in a fight, but we're trained as trackers first…'_

As he was thinking, he was unaware of Hinata suffering her own defeat. Hearing the warning of his kikaichu spies, he looked up quickly to focus where they told him Hayate was coming from. Seeing the jonin land on a branch, he realized that their sensei was trying to prove something. _'Why handicap himself by removing his sword if this was a true test of skill? What are we missing here?'_

Getting all his kikaichu within the forest to collect into a group and make some noise to distract the jonin, he noticed it drew his sensei's attention immediately. _'Why turn from the enemy you know is there…'_

He felt the proverbial kick to the back of his head the second he figured it out. _'Teamwork!__ Shit… Maybe if I can get back to the other two… and if their still in a condition to fight…'_

Shino swallowed thickly, suddenly not liking the odds, as he asked his kikaichu that were distracting his sensei to lead him off to the other side of the forest for a ways, then disperse and find him again.

* * *

Finding Naruto wasn't the hard part, it was convincing him to give Shino's idea a try. Well that, and finding Hinata. One of Shino's kikaichu had, luckily, seen her on the way back. 

Once all three were together, with Hinata's byakugan active, and Shino's bugs circling them to keep an eye out for their sensei, they began to plan.

"Alright. What's our strong points, first. Mine's clearly the kikaichu. Tracking and chakra drain are all I've mastered yet." Shino stated calmly.

"I-I've got my, umm, my byakugan. I c-can see nearly 360 d-degrees, and can close c-chakra points… I-if I can f-find them. I've only m-memorized a few, as I c-can't see t-them yet." Hinata stammered, uncertain.

"I can perform the kage bunshin, shadow clones. They seem real, feel real, and take at least a good hit to disperse." Naruto piped in, grinning as he began to think of something. "Yo Shino! Can your bugs enter a clone…?"

Dead silence for a moment before Shino chuckled softly. "Yes. Though I don't have a large hive yet, so depending on the number of clones you want…?"

Hinata started to smile. "W-what about if we, were to, ummm, I-if Naruto-kun created the c-clones, and w-we disguised ourselves, S-Shino-kun, into N-Naruto's as w-well? And t-then, w-we could, umm, have some of your k-kikaichu enter a-about a th-third of them?"

Naruto flashed a smirk at Shino he swore was returned. "You're the greatest, Hinata-chan!" Naruto laughed, "Kage bunshin!!" Instantly 57 clones of Naruto were in the clearing. Hinata and Shino swiftly henged into Naruto as well, leaving a total of 60 Narutos. Shino swiftly sent 10 kikaichu each into 20 of the clones.

"And then, all w-we have t-to do…" Hinata stammered.

* * *

Shino's kikaichu had easily found their sensei, perched on a branch and waiting for the next attempt. All of the clones grinned as he rolled his eyes. As clone after clone hit him and was dispersed, the whole team could see him slowing down. When there were only ten Naruto's left, they went in for the fight. 

Every clone that had been 'filled' with kikaichu had dispersed the bugs onto the distracted jonin. With only one order. "Slow him down."

So, with every attempt at ninjutsu, more than twice the chakra the attack would usually take went missing. And they put small dents in his chakra supply even when he was doing nothing.

By the time Naruto, Hinata, Shino, and the last seven clones, all still looking like Naruto struck, he should be at least half-tired, add to whatever they may have done in their individual attacks.

Hayate was looking rather confused as all ten Narutos leapt at him, and fought off two of the clones into dispersion with the same roundhouse kick, before he turned around to meet another with a punch to the face. That one dispersed only to reveal two more behind. Both got him, one in a hit to the left shoulder, and the other a punch to the face. Hayate staggered back to get some room and kicked the one that got him in the face, hard enough to disperse it. Twisting, and trying to hit the other Naruto with his left arm, they all saw his eyes widen as his arm didn't move.

Taking the advantage, all six Naruto's leapt at him, two grabbing his legs, one grabbing his right arm, and the other three drew kunai and pounced.

Managing to get his right arm free by twisting his arm to propel the clone into a tree, he managed to fight off one of the advancing genin, the one coming in from the right, by punching it in the side of the head to send it to the ground, but the other two drew blood. One from a cut on his cheek, one from a scratch to his left shoulder.

As the genin hit the ground, the clones dispersed, revealing it was Naruto sprawled on the ground, and the other two cancelled the illusion and leapt down to him. Able to move again, save his left arm anyways, Hayate leapt down as well to tell the others to grab Naruto and follow him back to where he left his stuff.

* * *

As Naruto groggily came too, he could hear Hayate laugh, then cough. "Congratulations you three. You passed. I'm very proud you came up with the need for teamwork on your own. Most genin don't. Whose idea was it, by the way? And Naruto, I'm quite proud of you for taking the more dangerous route. By coming in on my right, you ensued I'd have to take the time to attack you first if I got my arm free." 

Hinata beams at him and announces, "It was, umm, S-Shino-kun's." Shino 'hmmns', but Naruto thinks he's smiling… And he whoops, then falls back down, still rather groggy. "Man Hayate, you hit hard." Hayate bursts up laughing, as Naruto and Hinata join in. His laughs soon turn into pretty bad sounding coughs, but he waves them off when all three of them begin to stand.

"I'm good." He assures them. "You're both dismissed. Hinata, can you fix my arm first? Naruto, can you bring over the weapons you and Shino borrowed?"

Naruto nods as Shino hands his over. He bounced over to Hayate and handed over all that Shino and himself had borrowed. Hinata walked over immediately and activated her byakugan, touching the same spot as she did before. Once done, she and Shino went their separate ways.

"What did you want me to stay behind for Hayate-sensei?" Naruto asked curiously when he's sure the others are gone. Hayate slings his bag over his shoulders, and places his sword at his hip as he turns to Naruto.

"Why such poor weaponry Naruto? Don't you realize dull weapons like that will get you killed on a mission?" He asks, crouching down to Naruto's height. _'__He actually sounds like he cares…__'_

Naruto sighs and looks away, "It's not my fault. That's all the shopkeepers will sell me."

Naruto heard him taking a deep breath as he turns his face to look at him again. "Look at me Naruto." Hayate sighs as he keep his eyes averted.

Naruto swallowed, but looked up at him. "Do you know why they treat you like this…?" He asked quietly, and Naruto realized he was trying to see if he knew about the damn fox.

"Yes. They hate me because they think I'm the stupid fox." Naruto growled out.

Hayate sighed sadly. "Good, you do know about it, if you didn't, I'd have tried to tell you, though I really wouldn't be the best person for the job. Listen to me Naruto. I've known you now for about 6 hours or so, but I can already say this with every confidence it's true." Here he paused, to look him dead in the eyes to make sure he was listening. "You are NOT the fox. You are its keeper, you may eventually have some of its power, but YOU are NOT the fox."

Naruto burst into tears by this point, and whimpered, "That's what Iruka-sensei said."

"And he's right." Hayate said softly, dropping to his knees, and pulling him into a loose hug. "If anything, you should be treated as a hero for all you've done for us, even if it wasn't your choice."

He goes quiet then, save his occasional coughs, as Naruto slowly pulls himself together. Once the blonde is quiet for a few moments, he pulls back, though not enough to break the hug, and Naruto looks up at him with a soft smile. "Thank you Hayate-sensei." He nearly whispered, wiping the last of his tears away.

He just smiles and gives Naruto another moment, before he gets to his feet. "Come on Naruto. Let's get you some better weaponry."

Naruto grinned and followed him into town, a slight bounce in his step that, for once, isn't faked. He lead the way into a weapon shop that he tells Naruto to go to from now on whenever he needs weaponry. Once inside, he walked up to the counter and spoke with the salesperson. Naruto's motioned over by Hayate as he buys him replacements for his old weapons. 2 new sets of shuriken and 6 kunai.

As they leave the store, Hayate turns to Naruto before he can leave and tells him, "That's the bare minimum of weaponry I want to see you wear at all times now, alright Naruto?"

Naruto gave his foxy grin, "Sure thing, Hayate-sensei!"

He smiled, "One more thing Naruto. Would you like to learn how to wield a sword? I'd be willing to put in a few extra hours to teach you. I'll ask your teammates tomorrow. I think you'd be good with one."

Naruto beamed, "A sword? Sure! That'd be so cool!"

He laughed, and told him, "You're dismissed for the day Naruto. It's about time to head home, I think."

"Alright. Bye sensei!" Naruto laughs, heading home for the night.

* * *

Hayate arrived for his appointment that morning, as always, about an hour early. He walked into his usual room in the hospital and swiftly changed into the hospital gown. Once changed, he slid into the bed and tried to go to sleep. 

The procedure was usually very uncomfortable, if not outright painful, but they couldn't risk using chakra or other such outside means to knock him out. He finally began to drift off to sleep as one of the medics walked in to start to paint the symbols on the correct parts of the room.

* * *

When Hayate next woke up, it was to a nurse checking him over, and telling him that he really must stay in the hospital, and in bed, that day. He may do as he wishes tomorrow, but his illness was getting steadily worse. "If you leave that bed today, you'll only be even worse off than you would be normally." 

Hayate sighed and asked her, "Could you at least send for Iruka then? I need to speak with him regarding my students."

The medic hesitated for a moment, before agreeing and leaving the room.

Not ten minutes later, Iruka softly knocked at the door of the room before entering.

"You wished to see me?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes. I need you to pass on word to my students that they have the day off. I'm not to leave the hospital for the day. Just please, don't tell my students why. I can't have them holding back in sparring or training for fear of hurting me." Hayate explained.

Iruka swallowed thickly. "If you're sure…?"

"I am. Thank you, Iruka. If their ever to know, I want to be the one to tell them." Hayate sighed.

"Alright. How've they been doing? They did pass, right?" Iruka questioned.

Hayate laughed softly. "They all passed. Ask Naruto about the strategy they used at the end. They'll be an absolutely deadly team sooner or later. And they've all been fine. They don't know each other very well yet, but they'll get there. And Naruto's a good kid. I took him out to a store he can buy his weaponry at from now on."

Iruka smiled happily. "Thanks. I better get going now, if I want to catch them at home. We should talk again sometime."

"I'd like that." Hayate yawned, smiling softly.

* * *

When next Hayate woke up it was to the teary face of his lover, Yugao. "Oh Hayate, I am so sorry." Yugao sighed. 

"What for?" Hayate asked her startled. _'If this was about the argument over Naruto, she's apologizing faster than normal.'_

"For the argument over the brat. He shouldn't be enough to get us to argue over. He's only your student after all." She swallowed.

Hayate closed his eyes and sighed. He could just keep his mouth shut and take the easy way out, but he owes it to Naruto to at least try. "I'm teaching him to wield a sword Yugao. By Gekkou family rules, that makes him at the very least my apprentice."

Yugao looked shocked for a moment, before sighing. "I spoke with Kotetsu and Izumo last night. I don't get it. They, like you and I, lost family to the brat, and yet I'm the only one of the four of us who realizes this?"

Hayate gave her the sternest look he could manage from his hospital bed. "If he were a demon, he'd have finished us off long ago Yugao. Think of it that way if you must. I respect that child for all he's done for us, and I will do what I can to help him as well."

Both turned to look sharply at the door as a knock was heard. "Yo! Can we come in?" Kotetsu called.

Hayate laughed, "Perfect timing, come on in guys, and help me explain this."

"Fine. While you're here, answer me this. How can you not see him for the demon he is?" Yugao growled.

"Because he's too much of a sweetheart," Izumo started. "Had he really been a demon, we'd likely be dead after how this village has treated him, and yet he not only keeps getting up, he keeps smiling, happy with what he does have."

"He's got a kick-ass sense of humor that'll only grow, and a desire to prove himself like I've never seen." Kotetsu pitched in.

"His code of honor wouldn't allow him to become the demon; he would likely choose to give his life up over letting it loose again." Hayate added.

Yugao just kind of sat there in silence for a few more moments, before sighing. "Alright, I'll at least try to give the brat a chance. No more comments until I've met him at least, alright?"

"That's all I ask." Hayate smiled, as Kotetsu and Izumo grinned.

"Now, kiss and make up!" Kotetsu laughed, ducking a swat from Izumo before being chased from the room. Yugao and Hayate just laughed.


	4. Missions and Training

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 04: Missions and Training

Iruka dropped down from the roof across the street from the Aburame compound and walked up to the gate. The Aburame on guard let him pass, and he walked up to the front door to knock.

Iruka smiled at seeing Shibi and passed the message about the day off for Shino's team to him. Iruka swiftly left after his message was delivered. Much as he respected the family, that many bugs kinda creeped him out.

Walking back inside, Shibi turned to find Shino. "You've got the day off."

Shino nodded, and went to have that talk with his mother she asked for, only vaguely surprised when his father followed him in.

"Your team consists of who, precisely, Shino?" Shibi questioned.

"Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and our instructor, Gekkou Hayate." Shino stated.

"Would you mind telling us about them Shino?" His mother asked.

"Hinata's shy, but smart. She'll make a good kunoichi someday, maybe a medic-nin or another specialty branch. Hayate is rather strong and seems to care for all three of us already. He also seems quite sick, but was still able to beet us without his sword. Naruto is cheerful, and occasionally comes up with some rather devious ideas." Shino mused.

"Tell us more of the Uzumaki child, please Shino." His mother requested.

Remembering how that was one person he never saw much of before the academy, he continued, knowing instinctively that whatever he said now was incredibly important. "He can create multiple kage bunshins, has no fear of my kikaichu as far as I can tell as of yet, seems determined to keep Hinata and myself as sure as ourselves as we can be, and as far from danger as is possible. He genuinely cares about the whole team already, I can tell. He also seems more at ease with us than he ever did at the academy."

Shino wondered what the looks shared between his parents meant, before they turned to him. "There are certain things the adults of this village, and he himself now, knows about himself. However, it's an S-ranked secret punishable by death to speak of it with any who don't know. Either the Third or Naruto himself must tell you. However, don't pressure him, he will tell you when ready." Shibi informed him.

"Yes. I think we've made a grave error of judgment Shibi. Shino, keep an eye out for him. When you know you can trust him, invite him over for dinner. Even if it's before you know the secret."

* * *

Iruka sighed as he walked quickly around the corner and down the street to the Hyuuga compound. At the gates, the Hyuuga questioned his being there. "Hinata's team has the day off due to circumstances. Please inform her of that for me." 

"We will tell her." The guard on the left stated, before heading up to the main house as Iruka left. Knocking on the front door, it was opened by a young woman of the branch clan.

"I request to speak to Hinata-sama." The guard requested.

He was led into the dining room where he bowed to the occupants, relayed the message, and bowed out.

"A day off. Who is your sensei, Hinata?" Hiashi questioned coldly.

"Gekkou H-Hayate-sensei, f-father." Hinata answered, watching her younger sister smirk at her.

"The swords master of Konoha. Not bad, I suppose. Who're your teammates?" Hiashi continued.

"Aburame S-Shino, and Uzumaki N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said weakly, watching a dark expression slide across her father's face.

"You see why you need to be stronger Hanabi? Otherwise you wind up on worthless teams. Your team placement makes no sense. Genin teams are supposed to be specialized, not all over the place." Hiashi stated coldly. "And I want you spending no more time than necessary around Uzumaki, am I clear? You are to go out only for training. Anything else, and you will seek permission from myself first."

"Yes f-father." Hinata whispered, trying to choke back a sob.

As Hiashi got up to leave, Hanabi smirked even wider at Hinata. "Have fun,_ sister_." Hanabi sneered before she, too, left.

_'What can I do for today? Maybe I'll go try and talk to __Neji...'_

* * *

Someone knocking on the door woke Naruto up that morning. He went over and opened it to blink in surprise. "Iruka-sensei!" he whooped, and pounced. 

Iruka laughed and carried Naruto back inside for the moment. "Hey Naruto!" Iruka laughed, setting him down. "You've got the day off, I was wondering if you'd like to spend at least a little of the day with me."

Naruto grinned from ear to ear. "I'd love to! I haven't eaten yet though."

"No problem, let's go get you some ramen while we talk, alright?" He asked.

Once Naruto got dressed, in record time, they swiftly headed down to Ichiraiku's for ramen. After making his order, Iruka turned and asked Naruto, "How've you been, Naruto? What's your team like?"

The bonde grinned, "I've been great, Iruka-sensei! And my team's great too! Hinata's nice, if a little weird, and Shino's really smart. Neither of 'em treats me like the rest of the village. And Hayate-sensei's awesome!"

Iruka's eyebrows went up. "Awesome, huh? Better than me?" He teased.

"Naw." Naruto grinned, watching him laugh, "Not yet anyways." He swiftly dodged a smack on the head with a laugh. As his ramen arrived, Iruka asked Naruto about how his team passed the true Genin test.

He explained, in nearly blow-by-blow detail, while eating his ramen. He looked rather proud of the three of them by the end.

"Hey Iruka-sensei? Why'd we get the day off?" Naruto finally asked him.

Iruka fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, before he slumped and sighed. "It's not my place to tell you, Naruto. Hayate will, or he won't. Just don't worry about it, alright?" Naruto hesitated, uncertainly. "You wouldn't want him telling your team about your, uh, condition, would you?" Iruka continued.

Naruto winced, "Alright."

"Thanks Naruto." Iruka smiled.

* * *

Naruto swiftly arrived at what he's already dubbed as his team's meeting place. As per normal, Shino was already there, and neither his sensei nor Hinata were there yet. 

"Naruto, come here." Shino requested from where he was sitting on the ground. Naruto shrugged, and walked over.

He dropped to the ground across from Shino and asked, "What's up?"

He paused, for a second, before asking, "Would you like to know a little more about my kikaichu bugs?"

Naruto blinked. "Sure! …but isn't that, like the Aburame's, uh, secret?"

Naruto would have sworn Shino laughed quietly. "Pretty much, but I'll only be telling you the basics." Naruto knew he was smiling now. Only a little, but he could tell!

* * *

The third Hokage looked up as the three people he sent for came in. "Ah, Hayate, Asuma, Kakashi, I see you're all here. Your teams were the ones lucky enough to pass this year from the academy. Tell me, how are your teams working out?" 

"Well, Ino seems dead set on kicking my team into shape, but looses steam whenever the other two argue her too much. Chouji seems more interested in the food he brings to training, and Shikamaru seems completely bored of the other's antics. I think I'm going to tell the other two to practice against each other from now on, and play go, shogi and other strategy games against Shikamaru." Asuma sighed.

Kakashi, nose stuck in his ever-present book, intoned, "Sasuke seems to be a loner, he barely tolerated working with the other two to pass. Kiba seems bound and determined to show Sasuke up, and Sakura's only interested in Sasuke. She has no drive to train on her own."

Hayate looked at the older jonin in surprise. "My team figured out the teamwork theme of the test on their own, and seems to all genuinely wish to become better shinobi. Naruto has already agreed to learn how to wield a sword, and I'll be asking the other two today. Naruto is by far the brawns of the team, Shino the brains, and Hinata the support. With a little bit more training, I'm certain I'll have a very formidable team on my hands."

The Hokage laughed at the other two jonin's dumbstruck expressions. _'And to think… That three man team was considered the reject team. No-one wanted any member of the three of them. I think Hayate will enjoy the chance to show everyone up for once.'_

* * *

As Hayate arrived in the clearing, he smiled at seeing his three students in a sort of relaxed huddle off to one side of the clearing. Shino's kikaichu weaving between all three of them, some perched on each of the three, and a good many settled in Hinata's hair. 

He gave them a few more minutes for their discussion of Shino's kikaichu to dwindle down, and then called them over.

"Alright everyone. Today we start training. Hinata, Shino, do either of you wish to learn the art of the sword? Or would you rather focus on your ninjutsu and taijutsu for now?"

Shino turned down weapon training immediately. "They pose too great a risk for my kikaichu."

Hinata thought about it for a moment longer, before deciding to wait. "I n-need to learn the G-Gentle Fist S-Style of my f-family first."

"Alright, then I want you two to practice your family's abilities for the next hour. The first hour of training every day will be individual study. You two with your family's specialties, and Naruto will learn the art of the sword with me. After that hour is up, I want everybody back in this clearing for the rest of the training, which will be done as a team, and than the last few hours of the day will be doing missions or sparring or testing as I see fit. Shino, Hinata, be back in an hour. Naruto, you're with me." Hayate said, his coughing seemingly much better today.

* * *

Naruto watched as Shino and Hinata nodded, and headed off in different directions. Hayate came up to him with a katana that looked to be just a little worn. 

"This was the one I trained with when I was your age. The Gekkou family training blade. I think I was a little bit taller, but it should be alright. It's a good blade, so look after it while you have it, alright? You have to make sure it's clean and dry every night, and sharpen it every 2 weeks or so." Hayate told him with a smile.

Naruto just nodded, too stunned to speak.

Once he snapped out of it, Hayate got him into the proper stance, and for the next hour, he got his first lesson in swordsmanship. At first, wielding the katana was rather awkward, it's not like Naruto's ever held anything like it before. By the end of the hour however, he was able to assume the proper stance for a beginner, and had been taught in more detail the proper care for the blade, as well as how to sheath and unsheathe it properly.

Looking down at the sword he would be wearing at his hip from now on, he couldn't help but smile. _'Wait 'till I tell Iruka-sensei about this!'_

The blade was long, and polished 'till it nearly shone, and had a few scratches and dents upon it. It certainly looked well-worn. The hilt was plain black leather, as was the scabbard, with only a small, faded green lizard emblem on each.

After admiring the blade, he strapped it to his side and smiled.

* * *

"Now, for your first bit of training, we will start on the simplest of all the chakra exercises and work up. As you've never done anything like this before, it will take you a while, so don't worry. For now, you'll be working on leaf spinning. You focus a layer of chakra in the palm of your hand and place a leaf on top. Then you push the chakra up from your hand to lift the leaf at least an inch above your palm. Once you get that stage mastered, you then start to spin your chakra in one direction." Hayate explained. "Too much chakra and the leaf will be blown away or torn to bits. Too little, and the leaf won't float." 

"Any questions?" Hayate asked. "No? Then I'll walk around and try and help you out as you work."

* * *

Hayate came back from the mission tower while his team was still practicing his first bit of training – pooling a small amount of chakra into one of their hands and spinning a leaf within. 

"Here's our first mission as a team – I warn you though, you'll likely think D-class missions are a waste of time. You never leave the village for them, and you 'train' by aiding the villagers. Our mission today is to go to one of the villager's houses and paint a fence for them." Hayate sighed.

As the team arrived at the house, Naruto fell back behind his teammates as the lady stepped outside and glared at him. She turned to their sensei and spoke with him for a moment before taking a swift step back. Naruto grinned at the rather unhappy expression on his sensei's face, and the lightly spooked one on the lady's.

Once he got it all sorted out, they got into the backyard and groaned. Lots of fence. Everyone picked up a paint can and a brush each, and got to work. About 5 minutes in, Naruto smacked himself on the head, catching his teammate's attention. "Idiot!" He yelped. A moment later, there were 50 clones of him all holding a clone of his paint brush and grabbed a few cans of paint to work with.

Naruto heard Hayate laughing just as Hinata asked, "Is h-he allowed to do t-that?"

* * *

The Third Hokage brought his crystal ball over and decided to check on the genin teams. 

Looking in on team six he couldn't help but feel sorry for his son as Ino nagged at her teammates, Chouji ate his chips, and Shikamaru watched the clouds, all while Asuma was trying to get them to pay attention to his teachings.

Team seven wasn't much better, Kakashi giving one-on-one instruction to Sasuke and leaving Kiba to work it out on his own. Sakura was watching Sasuke, and didn't seem to be paying Kakashi any mind. _'I'm glad I didn't put Naruto there.'_

Next he looked in on team 8 and watched as all three paid rapt attention to Hayate as he explained, then set them to work. As they tried to spin the leaf, he walked around and tried to help all three of them. _'I knew he'd be good for Naruto,' _the Third laughed happily at seeing the wide smile on the blonde's face, and the sword at his hip. _'I'm also glad to note that he isn't favoring any of them. __Of the three main genin teams this year, I think team 8 really will be worth keeping an eye on.' _

* * *

About a week of D-class missions later, Shino decided to make good on his parent's request and invite Naruto to dinner. He discussed it with them before leaving for training, so they wouldn't be caught by surprise. 

As the team was dismissed for the night, Shino swiftly called Naruto over. "My parents and I would like to invite you to dinner tonight, Naruto."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Um, alright."

Shino headed off, and a confused Naruto followed. They continued on to one of the farthest reaches of the village where a large area was walled off. Walking to what seemed to be the front was a large wooden arch, made of the same wood as the wall around, with simply 'Aburame' carved along the arch.

Stepping through the now-opened gates, Naruto couldn't help but whistle lowly in amazement at the gardens within. He may not care for flowers much, but wow, what an explosion of color! And bugs of all shapes, sizes, colors and species flying, crawling, and walking around.

Shino led him along the stone pathway up to the biggest house in the compound; the one surrounded by all the others, and opened the door. "I'm home." Shino called out calmly.

"In here you two!" A cheerful voice called out.

Naruto blinked, but obediently followed Shino into the room. A beautiful woman with long, dark green hair stood over the stove, her hair falling in thick waves to her waist. She had caramel-colored skin, a slim build, and as she turned to smile at him, Naruto realized she had dark red eyes.

"Um… Hi Mrs. Aburame." Naruto shyly greeted her.

She just laughed softly. "Call me Tanya. Dinner will be ready in about ten to fifteen minutes. Shino dear, why don't you go introduce him to your father?"

Shino nodded, and led him out into another room. "Father, this is Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto smiled shyly as what looked like an older clone of Shino looked up at him. "Hello, my name's Shibi. Have a seat, both of you." He requested, motioning to the couch across from him.

Both sat down, Shino looking perfectly calm, Naruto looking as nervous as he felt. "How have you found working with an Aburame so far, Naruto?" Shibi questioned.

"Huh? What'd ya mean? Shino's cool. When we work together, we come up with some pretty kick-ass strategies for whatever task Hayate-sensei's set us on." Naruto said in confusion.

Shibi just chuckled. "I mean in relation to the kikaichu. Shino here tells me that unlike the average person, you're not afraid of what we hold inside of us."

Naruto winced, and gave Shibi a pointed look. "If I did have a problem with it, it would be rather hypocritical of me, wouldn't it?" Naruto questioned sadly.

Shibi tipped his head at him in apology, and Shino looked back and forth worriedly. "I'll tell ya sooner or later Shino… I just…"

"It's fine, Naruto. Take as long as you need." Shino assured him, just before Tanya called them in to eat.

"Just in case you forgot, my name's Tanya Aburame, Shibi's wife, and Shino's mum." She grinned as she handed out dinner. Naruto had to work really hard not to drool. It all smelt _sooo_ good!

What little manners Naruto knew at least required all persons to be seated before one started to eat. He waited a second or two later, just as the others were starting to eat to happily dig in.

Naruto happily ate all that was put in front of him, and gladly accepted seconds when asked. "That was delicious Tanya!" Naruto beamed. "The best food I've ever had!" And it was. Naruto vowed to himself to never turn down an offer of a home-cooked meal if he ever gets any more.

After eating, Naruto was lead back into the lounge for the lot of them simply to sit back, talk, and relax. He found out lots of things about Shino that night – that his favorite color was green, his favorite bug (aside from the kikaichu) were wasps, and that he has a slight fear of spiders and frogs.

Likewise, the Aburames learned quite a bit about Naruto as well – his favorite colors being orange and black, his love of ramen, his favorite animal being frogs (no offence Shino), and his intense dislike of poodles. Damn fluffy, yappy little things.

After talking through the early hours of the night, Naruto was offered to stay in the guest bedroom beside Shino's, rather than send him home so late. Naruto was hesitant, but finally accepted. He was offered a pair of Shino's PJs (and under oath of pain of death to never tell a soul his PJs were neon green with wasps and bees all over them), and curled into the guest room with a glass of water, after getting directions to the nearest washroom (right across the hall).

He slept soundly that night, lulled to sleep by the multitude of insects outside, the fragrant air from the flowers, and the soft, cushy bed. He never slept so soundly in his life.

Waking up in the Aburame household was much like going to sleep last night had been – a whole new experience. Rather than the night bugs that lulled him to sleep last night, the morning was dominated by birdcalls, and numerous daytime bugs. He could, in fact, hear rather loud buzzing noise from the window and realized there must be a bee hive or hornet's nest somewhere nearby.

Quickly making use of the bathroom and shower, Naruto changed into the clothes he wore yesterday, just until he could get back to his house for a new pair.

Breakfast was a quiet affair, mainly because Naruto discovered Tanya wasn't a morning person. It wasn't hard to figure out once she almost fell asleep in her eggs. All in all, Naruto had immensely enjoyed his stay with the Aburames, and made sure they knew this before heading home to get changed and heading out to their meeting area.

* * *

Wandering home after another boring D-class mission, Naruto laughed at seeing a piece of fence that didn't quite match trying to follow him. "Not good enough Konohamaru! At least this time the wood panels are facing the right way!" 

Konohamaru pulled the sheet off him and cried out, "Play ninja with me!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "How about this. I feel like wandering around some more, so you keep trying to sneak up on me, and if I find you, I'll tell you what you're doing wrong, ok?"

Over the next few hours, Naruto found Konohamaru again, and again, and again. Though he had to admit, the kid was slowly getting better.

Finally, Konohamaru decided it was time for him to head home, and Naruto decided to go to Ichiraiku's for, of course, ramen. He blinked, startled, at seeing Iruka-sensei and Hayate-sensei eating there.

"Hi Iruka-sensei, Hayate-sensei!" Naruto chirped, heading for his favored seat. He was rather surprised when Hayate got up and moved onto Naruto's other side so he was sitting between the two.

"Hello Naruto. How've things been lately?" Iruka questioned, as Hayate laughed his own greeting.

"Pretty good. Did I tell ya about my dinner at the Aburames? And Hayate-sensei, how many more D-class missions do we gotta do, and why?" Naruto asked, ordering his ramen.

"No you didn't, actually." Iruka grinned, "But I'll let Hayate answer first. Sounds like a shorter explanation."

Hayate laughed. "Well, to be fair, someone has to do the D-rank missions, so they always fall to the genins, partly because they're easy, partly because they are training."

"They are? How?" Naruto questioned.

"Think of it this way… how many times have you tried to track down that one cat? And how much easier has it gotten? Likewise, remember that first mission, with painting the fence, how you called all those clones, but were then completely unorganized? And now you make the exact number to be useful, but not to get in the way?" Hayate explained, watching the proverbial light bulb turn on in Naruto's head.

"Oh. That does make sense." Naruto mused. "Still boring though."

Both teachers burst out laughing at Naruto's comment. "Buck up Naruto. Even chuunins sometimes have to do D-class missions if we need the extra cash." Iruka grinned, watching Naruto groan.

"No way in hell will I do any more of these kinds of missions then I have to!" Naruto huffed.

Iruka laughed even harder, while Hayate pulled himself together enough to ask, "So what was your dinner like at the Aburames, Naruto?"

Naruto grinned. "Shino's mom's really nice, not much of a morning person though. His dad's even quieter than Shino is, but he's kinda cool. Shino and me get along even better than we used to though, cause I think he became my best friend."

"Shibi actually spoke with you?" Hayate questioned.

"Yup. Not much, but he did." Naruto smiled, turning to Hayate in confusion.

Hayate chuckled. "He must like you than. Shibi only talks to friends, family, or during an apocalypse."

Naruto and Iruka laughed lightly, as Iruka reached over to fluff Naruto's hair.

After saying goodbye, he started to head home. A few blocks away, he overheard someone smearing Hayate's name across the street for accepting the 'Demon Brat' as a genin on his team. Naruto didn't even think about it. He marched right up to the bastard and yelled in his face, "Screw you! Hayate-sensei doesn't deserve this kinda treatment! You wanna rip into someone? Drag my name through the dirt! But leave Hayate-sensei out of it! He's a better man than you'll ever be!"

As Naruto turned away and stormed home, he was unaware of an ANBU with long purple hair and a cat mask having overheard and seen that whole thing. _'Maybe Hayate really was right about him…'_


	5. Into The Mist

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 05: Into the Mist

Over the next few weeks team 8 continued their training and missions, and grew closer as a team. Naruto can still clearly remember the look on Iruka-sensei's face when he saw the sword at his hip. It takes every ounce of self control he has not to grin like an idiot whenever he even looks at the sword.

Naruto can't recount how much easier his life's gotten since he was assigned to Hayate's team. He now has a place he can go to buy weapons at normal price, food, clothing… Naruto has no idea how Hayate does it, though the stores are all in different parts of Konoha, but he actually has enough money to look after himself now.

Naruto and his teammates have been getting closer as well. Hinata still turns red and stammers a lot, but she's slowly getting better. She has also shown her team that she's an awesome cook, and makes some pretty good medicine to help with the after-training pain. Shino is as quiet as ever, but both Hinata and Naruto can read him a little better than before, especially after he invited him over to dinner that time. Naruto eagerly looks forwards to a repeat performance.

Hayate… Has his good and bad days. The whole team now knows that something's really wrong with him, but he's assured them that it's fine, and that they needn't worry about him. Naruto still does, however. Every month or so, since they became genin three months ago now, Hayate misses a day and gives his team the day off. They all really worry about him on those days.

Naruto's friendship with Iruka had grown to the point that he looks to the man as an older brother, and makes sure to spend some time with him, at the very least, once a week. Hayate, too, was working his way into being family too Naruto, and Shino's already fallen into the best friend slot.

After being turned down time after time by Sakura, Naruto has also begun to give up on her. He still finds himself thinking of her every so often, but he makes a conscious effort to ignore her now. Hinata, has become a good friend to Naruto, and he couldn't be happier about her cooking. She makes a habit of bringing at least lunch every day to training for all four of them. Hayate usually has his own food, but Naruto doesn't mind the extra portion.

Konohamaru, likewise, has become Naruto's unofficial younger brother/rival. He makes a point of tracking Naruto down and trailing him, now with two friends of his, every time Naruto's in the populated areas of the village.

Slowly but surely, Naruto realized he was winning over the people of Konoha… one person at a time.

* * *

A small squirrel bounded into the clearing and paused, looking around. Seeing what it was looking for, it bounded forwards towards the shadow in the tree's roots. Hearing the sound of crickets all around, the squirrel ran for the shadow, and seemed to smirk as the shadow leapt out, revealing an orange cat with a red ribbon on its left ear. 

As the cat landed on the squirrel, the squirrel vanished, and in its place, a smug Naruto sat holding the cat, the crickets having one again, gone quiet.

"Nice work Hinata! We never woulda found the damn cat again without you and Shino!" Naruto laughed, holding the cat tightly to keep from being scratched. "And the crickets were a great help Shino! As were the bees, and the ants you used to herd the damn cat where we could get it."

Hinata blushed bright red and looked away while Shino swiftly nodded. Landing before them, Hayate gifted his team with a big smile. "Great work guys! Your teamwork is getting really good! Now, let's get this little guy back home."

Arriving at the mission center as a team, Naruto gently handed 'Tiger' over to Lady Shijimi, Tiger's owner.

As they stepped up to the counter, the Hokage picked up a piece of paper and recited, "The next assignment for Team 8 will be to babysit for the council of elders, run errands to the neighboring village, help dig sweet potatoes…"

Now, Naruto has been being taught patience with his sword fighting skills, he had been learning patience in learning the katas he's mastered, but even now he could only take so much. "No WAY! Please, old man, give us something _different_ to do! Something **exciting**!"

Hinata blushed over Naruto's proclamation, Shinto half turned to look at his upset teammate, and Hayate chuckled. "Well Hokage-sama? Can they get something a little more interesting? They do have about 50 D-rank missions under their belts."

The Hokage paused, for a moment, to look the team over. Iruka, on the other hand… "Don't be a fool Naruto…! You're only a beginner! Everyone starts out doing grunt work, it's where you get experience for when you get the higher-level missions! You can't just-" Here, Iruka abruptly stopped as the Hokage raised a hand.

"Hayate is right, Iruka. They have 50 D-ranks completed. That should at least qualify for something less dull. Let's see…" The Hokage murmured. He poured over the whole scroll of D-rank missions and knew none would suit Naruto's cabin fever. Not even the higher-level D-ranks usually reserved for second year or higher genin would work.

Pausing as his eyes landed on the C-rank scroll, the Hokage opened it and looked over the first few entries. 3 down on the left he found one that just might work.

"Well Hayate, how do you feel about taking your team on a C-rank mission?" The Hokage asked with a smile. Naruto lit up like a light bulb while the other three looked surprised.

"Forgive me Hokage, but aren't C-rank for chuunin class?" Hayate questioned.

"Normally yes. However, this one should be safe enough. All the mission entails is to escort and protect a certain individual. It is a three-week mission, the only reason it's even C-rank, is so that said individual can complete the bridge with your help."

Hayate nodded slowly. "That should be alright then. Most chuunin would be rather bored with such a simple mission anyway. Very well Hokage-sama. I have no objections."

"YES!" Naruto whooped. Hinata blushed, but smiled up at the Hokage as well, and Shino swiftly nodded.

"Alright. Bring him in." The Hokage requested. A moment later, the individual they were to aid wandered in, a bottle of sake in his hand, and a grumpy look on his face.

"What's going on here? They look like a bunch of snot-nosed brats." The old man growled, taking a swig of his sake. "One looks creepy as hell, one looks like she's scared of her own shadow, one looks like a dumbass, and the older one looks like he'd fall over in a stiff wind."

Naruto was swiftly held onto by his two teammates and his sensei while screaming out, "Don't insult my teammates, I'll kill you if you make another comment like that about Hayate-sensei, and I'M NOT A DUMBASS!"

Hinata blushed deeply as she and Shino held onto Naruto. Hayate smiled softly, but laughed, "We can't kill the one we've just been assigned to protect."

The old man looked rather startled for a moment, before he smirked. "I am Tazuna. A bridge builder of ultimate renown. Until the bridge I've been commissioned to finish back in my home country is completed, you'll all be expected to protect me… Even if it costs you your lives!"

* * *

About an hour after team 8 left the mission tower, team 7 walked in. Kiba marched right up to the Hokage and demanded, "I'm sick of all the low-rank bullshit Hokage! Give us something better!" 

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes, and Sasuke looked rather bored. Kakashi had his ever-present book out.

The Hokage just sighed. '_Where as I trust __Hayate's__ team far more, and they've proven themselves more time and again, and have over 50 D-rank missions finished under their name, a good number for a rookie genin team in three months, team 7 only has 14 completed. The minimum required is 45 as a rookie or a second year genin team.'_ "Kakashi, you know as well as I do your team isn't qualified for a higher ranking mission yet. Not even the higher ranked D-class missions. I'm sorry, but that's all team 7 is authorized to take."

Kiba looked like he was about to foam at the mouth, Sakura looked to Sasuke in time to watch him shrug, so she did too, and Kakashi just kept reading as he replied. "Ok. Team dismissed. We'll try another D-rank tomorrow."

* * *

Walking out the front gate of the village, Naruto couldn't help but smile. "Road trip!" He laughed, darting ahead of the rest of the team to get a good look around. 

Hayate just laughed at him. "What? This'll be the first time I've been out of the village! Ever!" Naruto grinned back, looking all over.

"Am I really expected to place my life in the hands of this brat?" Tazuna asked.

Hayate just smiled and said, "All four of us actually, but yes. I have full faith in my students."

Naruto kept grinning from ear to ear as they got traveling. While they were still relatively close to Konoha, Hayate taught his team about the shinobi countries, and a little bit about the smaller countries without a hidden village, like wave country.

Tazuna spent most of his time sipping his sake and snipping at all four of them. After about an hour of this, Naruto got sick of it.

"Listen up old man! Don't mess with me! I already told you not to insult them! I'm gonna be Hokage someday, and when I do, you're gonna wish you treated me with more respect now! My name's Uzumaki Naruto! Don't you forget it!" Naruto yelled.

"Respect you? Future Hokage? Listen up kid, you'll never manage." He sneered. By this point, the rest of the team had gone dead quiet and were watching in fascination and worry.

"Stupid-head!! I'm gonna be the Hogage, strongest in the village, and then everyone'll respect me!" Naruto nearly screamed. _'What's wrong with the old bastard? First he insults my team, then me…!'_

"Respect you? I don't think so." He snorted. Naruto growled. "Even if you did become Hokage."

That did it! Naruto tried to leap at him and was restrained by Hayate. "Tazuna-san, with all possible respect, zip your howling screamer." Everyone looked stunned at Hayate. "Naruto does have what it takes to become Hokage if he so chooses, he's just not there yet. I have full faith in him. In all my students." _'Now, if only I survive Kotetsu's amusement when he finds out I slipped and used his version of shut up...'_

Tazuna just looked at them for a moment, then nodded and kept walking. Quietly this time. Hayate let him go as soon as he knew Naruto wouldn't murder their charge.

"Remember Naruto. Patience. Don't let your anger cloud your judgment." Hayate softly reminded him.

* * *

They continued walking for at least another hour. Naruto spared a little bit of confusion at seeing a good-sized puddle, when it hasn't rained in a while. However, he walked on. Hinata too, gave the puddle a confused look, but it was Shino's wary glare at it from behind his glasses that put Hinata and Naruto on edge. 

A moment after they had left the puddle behind, they heard a weird sound, like that of grinding metal, and turned around fast. Just in time to watch two scruffy-looking ninja wrap Hayate in a metal chain of some kind. All their eyes went wide as a look of fear crossed Hayate's face. "One little piggy." One of the masked ninjas laughed.

A moment later, they tightened the sharp wire, and Hayate was sliced to pieces.

Naruto felt cold fear grip his gut, as he watched the pieces of Hayate hit the ground. A moment later, the two ninjas were behind him. He felt the fear coil even deeper, and stood frozen as he felt something almost seem to snap inside of him…

Shino and Hinata shook off their fear quickly and leapt into battle to save their teammate. "Hinata, guard Tazuna." Shino commanded.

Hinata hesitated for a moment, but nodded and fell back. Shino used a combination of his bugs, kunai and shuriken to scare them away from the frozen Naruto. As they struck out with the shuriken-like chain, Shino threw a few more shuriken and kunai and managed to pin the chain to a tree.

While they were distracted trying to get the chain free, Shino fell back to guard Tazuna while Hinata leapt for the ninja. Landing on their claws, she swung around and kicked both of them hard in the face. Still attached to the chain, they jerked back from the force of Hinata's kick, and then were yanked forewords by the chain into another kick to the face for both of them. Taking the chance, they both unhooked the chain to get free.

One leapt for Hinata. He tried to tear into her with his claws, but she managed to hit the pressure points on his arm that would leave his clawed arm immobile for a while. Twisting, he managed to get her pretty good with a kunai across the cheek.

The other leapt for Shino. Using his kikaichu, he swiftly had them work on eating his opponent's chakra. While they were doing that, Shino tried to stop the ninja. Shino took a solid slash on his hand in the process of throwing the now chakra-depleted enemy away from him.

Just as both of them leapt at the now standing together genin pair, Hayate appeared between the two groups, sword drawn. It was a simple matter to take the claws off with a few quick slashes of his sword, and then to knock the enemies out with the flat part of the blade.

As Hinata and Shino calmed themselves down, Hayate swiftly sheathed his sword and turned to the two of them. "Are you two hurt anywhere else?" He questioned, reaching for Shino's hand first.

Naruto almost cried at the sight of Hayate. "You're alive!" he cried at him.

"In a moment, Naruto. Let me see your hand Shino, their claws are poisonous." Hayate said, swiftly turning to check Shino's wound. Hinata's cheek too was bleeding, so Naruto went over to shakily help patch her up.

"Don't worry about the poison." Shino said as Hayate swiftly cleaned the wound, "My kikaichu are neutralizing it as we speak."

Hayate nodded, and swiftly bandaged up Shino's hand. Naruto finished bandaging Hinata's cheek and turned to Shino. There was a small puddle of his blood before him. He had Hinata's blood on his fingers from the small wound.

"What happened Naruto? Why did you freeze up?" Hayate questioned him softly.

Naruto answered him as he walked over to the small puddle of Shino's blood, "I-I don't know. When you- I mean – When I thought you died, something, uh, s-snapped inside me. I can still feel whatever it was." He knelt next to the small puddle with all the team and Tazuna's eyes on him. He dipped his fingers into the small amount of Shino's blood and let it mingle with Hinata's on his hand.

Standing up, Hinata and Shino' blood on his left hand, he closed my fist and swore. "Never again. I won't be helpless ever again. I will never let others I care for be harmed so long as I still live. I swear it." Looking at his teammate's startled expressions, Naruto swallowed thickly.

Hayate sighed. "Naruto, come here."

Naruto went over without an argument. Hayate gently cleaned the blood off his hand as he said quietly, "What you felt snap, may have been the Kyuubi. The Third himself told me when in a fight, the bindings may loosen a bit, especially the first time. Judging by your expression, he didn't tell you." Hayate sighed. "I'm sorry, then, for not warning you earlier, that was my fault."

Naruto's eyes were wide by the end of that, and he knew it made sense, but, "It wasn't your fault! The Hokage said he'd be more truthful with me when I became genin and found out about the fox… He said he'd explain… but… he never did…"

Hayate looked Naruto dead in the eyes and said, "Then it was neither of our faults. What say we both question the Hokage when we get back, hmmm?"

Naruto smiled. "Okay."

* * *

Hayate wandered over to talk with Tazuna as they started off again, leaving the two ninja behind. Hayate went back to... deal... with them before the team continued. 

"Tell me Tazuna, why were those ninja after you?" Hayate questioned, shooting off a proud but worried look at his team from time to time. "Had we known there were ninja after you this would have been at least a B-ranked mission, possibly an A-rank. We were only hired to protect you from ordinary dangers, thieves and brigands at the most. As it stands, my genin team's lives are now at risk due to a faulty mission report filed by you."

Tazuna hesitated for a moment. "I honestly never thought ninja would be sent after me. Mercenaries, thieves, brigands, sure. Ninja? I didn't think he'd spend so much money."

Hayate hesitated. Naruto, Hinata and Shino all just looked at each other for a moment. "We can still do this mission Hayate-sensei." Naruto piped up, still sounding somewhat subdued.

"We have, after all, already accepted the mission." Shino logically pointed out.

"M-my father would be d-disappointed i-if I didn't keep going…" Hinata added softly.

Hayate sighed as he looked over his team. He was so proud of them, but so worried as well. However he knew that situations like this would likely crop up in their careers eventually, he just wished it weren't so soon… "Very well, for now, we may continue."

* * *

Leaving in a boat through the fog, all three genin gasped at the sight of the majestic, half-finished bridge before them. "Keep quiet, the mist will keep us hidden, and we've turned of the engine to row. If Gato catches us, we're dead." 

"Gato?" Hayate questioned startled.

Tazuna sighed. "Gato. You've probably heard of him. Supposedly, he's one of the richest men in the world. He threatens with hiring ninja, but he usually just hires thugs, unwilling to spend the money on ninja. Here in Wave, he owns all the shipping and transportation lines. Meaning my bridge is pissing him off. I don't know why he's so determined to destroy Wave, however. Please, I give you all full permission to leave once we reach my house."

Hayate looked over his team again and said quietly, "I'll leave it to a vote. When we get to your place, we'll decide." Gasps drew his attention forwards once again as he too, looked through the tunnel at the city before them.

"Wow…!" Naruto breathed, looking all around. Where Konoha was done in colors to blend with a forest, this city was all in greens, blues and whites to match the water. The odd, twisted trees growing out of the water drew quite a bit of attention as well.

Pulling up to the docks, they continued on into the forest. "Remember, I just need to get to my house." Tazuna sighed.

Continuing on, the members of team 8 were deep in thought, all mostly focused on the mission. Thus, when Hayate suddenly yelled to get down, they didn't argue, they dropped like rocks as he took their client to the ground. Feeling the wind sail overhead, Naruto chanced lifting his eyes to see a massive sword fly overhead and land halfway jammed into a tree.

Springing to their feet, team 8 saw a ninja land upon the massive sword's handle. As the ninja, with his back facing towards the team, turned his head to see them, Naruto started to take a step forwards, when Hayate swung an arm out to block Naruto's form.

"Momochi Zabuza, an A-rank missing-nin from the village hidden in the mists, Kirigakure." Hayate intoned calmly. "Stay out of this fight guys. I'll need room for this one. He's _way_ out of your league."

Zabuza smirked at them, still watching them over his shoulder. "Gekkou Hayate, if I'm not mistaken. The last of the samurai-ninja-clan of Konoha. If it wouldn't be too much trouble… could you hand over the old man?"

Hayate just looked at him warily for a moment, before telling his team, "Assume a protective stance between Zabuza and Tazuna-san. Stay out of the fight, no matter what happens."

"Enough. Pleasant as this conversation has been… the time for talk is over. I'm on a very tight schedule to polish off the old man." Zabuza growled, turning and falling into a crouch still perched upon his sword, facing them with one hand around the swords handle.

For a moment, the entirety of the team and their enemy stood still, before Zabuza laughed, "But… It seems like I'll have to finish you off first, Gekkou-san." A second later, he had leapt past them and was perched upon the water a little further away. Assuming a stance before the genin could follow his movements, he started to quickly vanish into mist and wind.

Watching a leaf float down to the water, Naruto yelped, "He's gone!? Where'd he go!?"

Hayate wasted not a moment to pull his sword now. He knew Zabuza would be after him first. He also knew this was a fight he wasn't sure he could win. Not now. A few years ago, sure, but not by this point… However, he wouldn't let his team be harmed. "All of you stay on your toes. He's a master of the silent killing abilities ANBU and hunter-nin are so proud of. Don't let your guard down for a second."

While they were quickly preparing during Hayate's warning, a thick fog rolled in. "W-where'd all this f-fog come from?" Hinata asked, activating her byakugan.

"There are eight targets." A cold, cruel voice growled, sending all three of the genin completely on guard. "Kidney, heart, throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery… So many choices! What vital, vulnerable place shall I choose?" Zabuza's voice laughed from all around them darkly.

Hayate, standing a good few feet between his students and where he last saw Zabuza, held his sword just a little bit tighter, coiled his stance just a little bit more, and calmed his rapidly beating heart. Feeling his genin tremble fearfully in the killer intent the fog was saturated in, Hayate just calmly smiled, though they couldn't see it. "Calm down you three. Even if he get's me, I'll still protect you. A Gekkou will never allow anyone under their care to die. **I** will never allow a comrade to die."

A moment later he felt it, just as his students calmed down, Zabuza struck, swinging his massive sword straight at Tazuna's head even as he knocked the genin out of the way. Hayate, moving faster than the genin could see, had launched between Zabuza and their client, thin katana holding Zabuza's massive blade at bay for a moment, before he twisted to the side to force the enemy to step to the side as his sword was wrenched. As Zabuza landed, Hayate whirled fast, twisting down to fall beneath the swing from the massive sword, and stabbed upwards as he rolled to the side, tearing Zabuza's stomach wide open.

Or, his water-clone's anyways. "Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto yelped, watching as Zabuza tried to take Hayate's head off. Watching Hayate seemingly die for the second time in the same day, as Zabuza's sword tore through him, and revealed a sliced log instead, made Hinata feel rather faint, and Naruto to start to get really pissed off.

Watching Hayate seemingly materialize behind Zabuza, and pin him with his sword across his neck, his genin shivered, almost glad to be only watching this fight. For as it seemed like Hayate had him pinned, he suddenly whirled, taking Zabuza's head off, turning the clone to water to confront the next one behind him.

Their swords clashed with a clang of steel, and for the next few moments they were nothing but blurs of movement, too fast for the naked eye to follow. Watching Hayate get flung aside suddenly had the team crying out for him worriedly. As he landed in the water and broke the surface with a gasp for air, Zabuza appeared behind him with a dark laugh, and quickly encased Hayate within a water prison.

"That prison is inescapable. You're trapped, without air. However will you live…?" Zabuza laughed. "You running around free makes it hard to do my job. I'll finish you later, after I've dealt with the others."

As a water clone of Zabuza came out of the lake, and started towards Naruto, Hayate wasted precious air to call out a warning. "Get out of here with the client! His clone will vanish if it gets far enough away!"

Zabuza just laughed. "How cute. You brats really think you're ninja? You even have a hitai-ate. Bah, you don't deserve the title ninja unless you're strong enough to rate a listing in my bingo book."

A blur of movement later, and Naruto was sent flying from a kick to the forehead that caused him to fly back, and for his hitai-ate to land at Zabuza's feet. Skidding flat on his ass, Naruto was torn for the moment it took to swing up to a crouch about whether to run or not. Landing on his hands, for a moment he saw the nails of his left hand, still discolored lightly from Shino and Hinata's blood, and then looked up and saw his headband beneath Zabuza's foot.

Slamming to his feet, Naruto got into a ready stance even as both of his teammates yelled at him to stop and leave. Charging at Zabuza, he even disregarded his sensei's cry. Getting close enough, Naruto dropped into a low run and reached a hand out. Getting kicked hard in the chest, and flying back near his team, Naruto shakily stood up, showing the hitai-ate clutched in his hand. Feeling blood drip from the corner of his mouth, Naruto laughed. "What's life like without eyebrows, freak? Got a new listing for your bingo book right here! The next Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto!!" So said, Naruto stood up straight once more, tying his headband back where it belonged.

Hayate looked at Naruto with pride, Shino with intrest, Hinata with awe, and Tazuna in amazement. _'Who__ ever knew the little fellow had it in him? I thought he was just an inconsequential little brat!'_

"Hey Shino! I've got a plan. Hinata, guard Tazuna, you'd see 'im coming from anywhere, right?" Naruto called back at his teammates.

"R-right, Naruto-kun!" Hinata called.

Zabuza's clone laughed. You're very sure of yourself. But… Do you really think you have a chance against me?"

"What're you doing? Get the client out of here!" Hayate called, realizing he was quickly running out of air. He was desperately trying not to cough.

"Yo, old man…?" Naruto asked, turning to face Tazuna.

"Let's face it. Truth is, I got you into this by lying. I've lived a good, long life, and it'd kill me to let you kids die trying to save me. So, give it all you've got!" Tazuna grinned at Naruto.

Swiftly murmuring the plan to Shino, Naruto took a step forward, and grinned. "Ready Shino?"

Zabuza's clone started laughing. "Apparently, you don't care if you live to get any older. By your age, I had already stained my hands in blood!"

Naruto swallowed thickly, as he quickly called nearly a hundred clones to surround them, shielding himself and Shino from view at the back.

"Doppelgangers, eh? And so many… I am impressed!" Zabuza cackled.

Naruto just tossed a folded fuuma shuriken towards Shino, who smirked behind his coat as he caught it. Twirling it quickly to unfurl it and to add a good few kikaichu, as the clones tried to distract Zabuza, Shino leapt into the air and hurled it at Zabuza.

"Shuriken are useless against me!" Zabuza bragged, laughing even harder as it was aimed at the clone, or so he thought. Watching the shuriken fly towards his true self instead, Zabuza sneered as he caught it in his free hand. Eyes widening as he saw the second shuriken in the shadow of the first, he quickly leapt up, still not breaking the water prison. Zabuza started to laugh again.

While still in the air, he was unprepared for the shuriken to turn into Naruto with a kunai in hand. He swiftly threw the kikaichu-laced kunai at Zabuza, straight for the back of the shoulder that was connected to the arm holding the prison.

Pulling his arm away and dodging as quick as he could, he still got a solid gash across his cheek, and unknown to him, at least 20 kikaichu quickly ate through the wound and into his chakra coils.

As Naruto fell towards the water, Zabuza reared back to throw the fuuma shuriken he still held. Just as he was swinging forwards, Hayate threw his right arm in its path to let it take the brunt of the assault. Hayate swiftly took the opportunity to swing his sword and slice hard across Zabuza's stomach, sadly not enough to kill, but a deep enough wound that the blood loss would get to him soon.

Having leapt out of the way of what would have been a lethal strike; Zabuza swiftly shot threw the hand seals of the water style: water dragon missile attack. He looked more than vaguely shocked when not a second after he completed the attack, so too did Hayate, silently offering a prayer in thanks for it being one of the ninjutsu Kotetsu made him learn.

As the water geyser the two dragons became flew up, then came back down to drench the onlookers, Hayate and Zabuza went back to sword fighting. However, all this time the kikaichu had been working, and after the water dragon, their job was much easier. Performing jutsu now would be quite difficult; Zabuza would find should he try.

Continuing their amazing swordfight across the water, Hayate continued to counter any move Zabuza tried. '_I don't know how much longer I can last against him.'_

Seeing his chance, Hayate took it. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Hayate cried, throwing the jutsu straight at the startled Zabuza. _'I don't think I can use anymore chakra today, I barely have enough energy left to fight…'_

While blinking the flare from his eyes and trying to see through the steam kicked up, Hayate sprung for the ninja with a hard kick beneath the chin, sending Zabuza flying. Quickly leaping after him to finish things, Hayate sped to a stop as Zabuza's eyes went wide as senbon needles seemed to appear through his throat.

A soft voice giggled lightly. "Not bad, thanks for saving me the trouble."

Zabuza's body hit the ground with a soft 'fwumpf' noise, as the exhausted sensei, his team, and his client looked up into the trees. There, they saw a robed child, looking around the genin's age, in a white mask with a red swirl decorating from the side to where the mouth should be. The symbol for the village of mists was also on his mask, like on Zabuza's forehead protector.

Hayate swiftly walked over to Zabuza and checked his vital signs. "Dead."

"Thank you for your help." The figure continued, settling into a slight bow. "I hope you don't mind my interfering, but I wanted the satisfaction of taking this one out myself."

"You're a hunter-nin from Mist, correct?" Hayate questioned, falling back to stand between his students and the hunter.

"Correct. I am, indeed, a hunter-nin. It is our responsibility, our art, and our pleasure, to hunt down rogues, outlaws and missing-nins." The figure said calmly, leaping down from the branch to land beside the body.

Hinata was still guarding Tazuna, though she watched the newcomer worriedly, Shino kept his hidden eyes almost fixated on the corpse, and Naruto swiftly looked back and forth between corpse and ninja warily. "Just who are you? You don't seem much older than me!"

Everyone heard the soft giggling again and Hayate just sighed. "It is possible Naruto. He wouldn't be the first I've come across who's younger than you and stronger than me. Some of the jonin in my year were even like that."

"Thank you again. You battle is over, and now the remains must be disposed of, lest they give up secrets of our village to our foes. I must be off. Farewell!" The soft voice laughed, before vanishing in a swirl of mist.

Hayate felt himself growing weaker. _'Damn my illness…! At one point, he would have been no problem!'_

The three genin and their client watched, horrified, as Hayate coughed up blood, wavered, than passed out. "Hayate-sensei!!" Naruto and Hinata cried as he hit the ground with a 'thump'.


	6. Tree Walking

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 06: Tree Walking

Hayate slowly woke up to find Naruto passed out across the floor to his left, Shino leaning against the wall – asleep? – to his right, and Hinata quickly hovering over him for a moment.

"Hinata?" Hayate said in confusion.

"Yes Hayate-sensei? W-we thought, we t-thought…" She sniffed, alerting her teammates, as they swiftly woke up, to have Naruto land beside him and Shino stand on his other side, before kneeling down as well.

Hayate winced, and assured them he was alright. Rather contradicted by his body a moment later by coughing up a bit of blood again. "Really, I'm alright. The main question now is; do you still wish to complete this mission? It is now clear it is above our level, but I trust in your decisions. In the life of a shinobi, this is a rather normal situation. I just wish it wasn't your first C-rank mission that turned out more dangerous."

Here he paused for another round of coughing, no blood this time at least, before continuing. "You deserve to know who Zabuza is before making your decision. Zabuza was once known as the Demon Zabuza, for his bloodthirsty ways. As a genin, the Mist village had a different graduation test than Konoha has ever wanted to think of. A melee free-for-all of the genin hopefuls – to the death. He hadn't even qualified for the genin exam, but he butchered over one-hundred members of that years graduating test. It's bad enough when they set friend against friend in a fight to the death for graduation, but his year… That's the reason you sometimes hear the Mist village called as the 'Bloody Mist' village."

Here he again paused to let it all sink in, watching Naruto shake slightly, Shino flinched during parts of the explanation, and Hinata was pale as a ghost. "He is also known as one of the 'Seven Swordsmen of the Mist'. At one point, all seven were from that village, but for one reason or another, all left or were killed. No-one now knows who the seven swordsmen are anymore, but they could be from any country, or missing-nin, despite the name having stuck. I know before Zabuza left the village he was ANBU classed. I know only of one other of the original seven, named Kisame, but that's all anyone knows."

There were long moments of silence while everyone absorbed the new information, before Naruto looked from Hinata to Shino and got nods from each. "I'd be lying if I said the thought of leaving never crossed my mind, but we have to help."

"B-by the time w-we leave and c-call for a-aid, e-everyone in town could be k-k-killed. Tazuna would be k-killed, and its likely Zabuza would get a-away." Hinata bravely added.

"While I admit the most logical plan would be to retreat, I need to agree more with my teammates. As ninja, we must not run." Shino calmly added in.

Hayate sighed loudly for a moment before granting them a smile. "Alright. I'm proud of you. It will take Zabuza some time to recover if he really was rescued like I thought by that hunter-nin. It will also take me another day or two at least."

"You mean he's still alive?!" Naruto yelped.

"Yes Naruto, I'm certain he is. No hunter-nin would have bothered to remove the body, they'd have disposed of it right there. A hunter-nin's job is a gruesome thing. Their job is to literally find and dispose of dead ninja from their own village, and to hunt down and kill missing-nin from their village as well. The reason? Ninja bodies tell too many tales to those experienced enough to look for them. Bloodlines could be exposed and copied, ninjutsu stolen from a corpse… That's why such a job is needed. It's also how ninja leave the world, especially if they die outside the village." Hayate softly explained.

It would have been hard to miss all three of his students swallowing thickly, but they stood strong, and Hayate was proud of them. "Now, as for your training. You've all mastered the spinning leaf, correct?" Hayate waited for the nods before continuing. They could all spin at least ten leaves together on one hand by that point. "I wish I could demonstrate this technique, but you may start it on your own. Once you master it, come back for the second portion of the exercise. What you need to do is gather you chakra into your feet. Not too much, or you'll blow off, and not too little or you won't stick. Then you walk up a tree. You'll know you've mastered the ability when you can practice your kenjutsu, taijustu or ninjutsu without worry."

* * *

The hunter-nin kneeled down beside Zabuza, his sword pinned into the ground on his other side. Laying down a roll of cloth beside him, the hunter-nin unrolled it to reveal an odd assortment of tools. Picking out what seemed to be oversized, sharp tweezers, he slowly began to lean towards the corpse. "First, I'll remove the wrappings around the mouth so the blood can drain out, and then…" He was heard mumbling to himself. 

The morbid tranquility of the scene was broken when the 'corpse' caught the hunter's arm in one of his hands, and pulled down the bandages with the other. "Enough. I can do it myself." Zabuza rasped.

"Awake already? I'm sorry Zabusa-san, but you have to allow me to help you, otherwise, you may actually kill yourself." The hunter softly requested.

Zabuza grunted, but let him get to work. As gently as possible, he removed the two senbon needles, and swiftly heeled the injuries as best he could.

"How long are you going to keep that ghoulish mask on?" Zabuza questioned coldly, as he slowly sat up.

The hunter just laughed. "Old habits die hard, I suppose. That and it was necessary to your retrieval." The hunter reached up to calmly pull his mask off, revealing a very feminine face. "They'd have killed you, had I not intervened…" Now that you could clearly see the young hunter's face, you could see the quick flash of worry as he said this.

"You needn't target the vulnerable areas in the neck just to put me into a deathlike trance… Any number of other areas on my body would have done just as well!" Zabuza complained, "But you are such a sadistic little brat…"

The hunter actually smiled, as if this were a great compliment and laughed, "Exactly!"

An unreadable look crossed Zabuza's face as he looked at the hunter. "I didn't want to mar your perfect body, Zabuza-san. And besides, the neck is so much less muscular than the rest of the body… I can more precisely target the points… that will leave an ordinary target paralyzed and apparently dead for a full week. But of course, you will recover much more quickly than the average person, correct?" the hunter smiled serenely.

"…you are still so innocent… No doubt, it's why I like you." Zabuza chucked, turning to look at the hunter.

"Well, I like you too, Zabuza-san." The hunter giggled, looking around at the clearing they were in. "The mist has lifted without us even noticing. Will you be all right, next time you meet them?"

"Yes. Though the swordsman was good. I may have been the weakest of the original seven swordsmen, but he almost held his own against me."

* * *

"Remember when you're training. You were able to save me from a dangerous situation. You are ready for the life of a ninja. After you eat something, head outside for training. If you can, practice your katas while your walking on trees once you get good enough, I want you two to practice your taijutsu at that stage. When you've got it, come back in here, alright?" Hayate finished. 

"Sounds like fun!" Naruto laughed.

"It won't be fun for **you**." A little kid sneered. He wore a striped hat, overalls and big, clunky sandals.

"Inari! Greet our guests properly! They're the ninja who escorted your grandfather home and have accepted the mission to protect him from Gato!" Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami , demanded her son.

"Why? They're all gonna die anyway. No one can beat Gato and his men." Inari said coldly.

Inari's family looked more than vaguely upset over Inari's attitude, Hayate and Shino were giving him considering looks, Hinata gaped at him and Naruto growled. "Listen here, you little brat! I'm gonna be the Hokage someday, meaning at the very least, I'm a hero-in-training! We're not gonna loose to this rich bastard and his hired goons!"

Inari just snorted. "Hero? You're dumb. One can't be a hero unless you die. Otherwise, there's no such thing!"

Naruto just growled even deeper. He was getting really pissed off at this kid's high-and-mighty act.

"If you don't wanna die, go home now…" Inari sneered again, as he turned and headed upstairs. "I'm going to my room grandpa."

Naruto sprung to his feet. "Naruto, wait a moment." Hayate tried.

"Not now Hayate-sensei. The little brat and I need to have a little talk!" Naruto snarled, storming upstairs.

He paused before opening Inari's door, however, hearing crying inside. Naruto paused for a moment, before knocking lightly and stepping in.

"What're you in here for?!" Inari snarled.

"Listen kid… I dunno what's got you so upset, but maybe talking about it will help. The way you're treating your family… you're hurting them. Bad." Naruto sighed.

"What would you know?" Inari continued. However, Naruto did seem to have gotten his attention.

"I know what it's like to be hated by an entire village. I know crushing sadness the likes of which you will never know. I never knew a family, but I think I've got a few friends now who might suffice. I've been kicked in the dirt too many times to count, and I know the best revenge you can have is to just get back up again." Naruto quietly countered, growing misty-eyed by the end.

Inari hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "I'll think about it." He nearly whispered.

"Good enough." Naruto promised, blinking his eyes clear as he turned and left the room.

* * *

A woman with short purple hair, a mesh shirt, black short skirt and a tan trench coat wandered into the bar most jonin frequent. Finding herself a seat, she made her way over to drop in beside Kotetsu. 

"Hiyas Anko! What brings you out here?" Kotetsu laughed. She didn't usually bring herself to socialize for anything less than an emergency, or some really good piece of news.

"Somthin' I thought you guys'd really like to know!" Anko laughed, catching Izumo, Kotetsu, and Kurenai's attention.

"And that would be?" Kurenai questioned curiously.

"Guess who's team was sent on a C-class mission of the rookie teams!" Anko laughed.

"Let me guess. Kakashi's, because of the damn Uchiha brat?" Kotetsu sneered.

"Nope! Though that was my guess too!" Anko sang.

"It couldn't have been Asuma's, I just saw him at lunch, unless his team hasn't left yet…" Kurenai mused.

"Lunch, huh? That wouldn't have been a date, now would it?" Anko smirked.

As Kurenai choked on her drink and spluttered incoherently, the other three members of the table burst up laughing. Once she could breathe again, Kurenai scowled at Anko. "You know perfectly well he and I are just friends!"

Anko smirked wildly and teased, "Of course my love! I knew you'd never cheat on me!" As Kurenai gaped at her, Anko surged in and snagged a kiss from her old friend. Quickly pulling back, she ducked the slaps that Kurenai was sending at her with practiced ease.

Kotetsu and Izumo were watching the familiar spectacle with supreme amusement. Such a sight wasn't exactly rare, but it was amusing nevertheless. "If you two are done with your little lover's quarrel," Kotetsu laughed, dodging the slap aimed for him, "What team was it Anko?"

Anko, still giggling madly, laughed, "Hayate's team! They've been flying through D-class missions! They've already completed more than some of last year's teams!"

The whole table burst into laughs. "Score Hayate! For once he gets something to wave in people's faces!" Izumo laughed.

"He already has Yugao as a girlfriend; I'd say that's worth waving proudly!" Kotetsu chuckled.

"She's ANBU, not too many people are allowed to know about her personal life." Anko reminded them.

All four at that table discussed Hayate and his team, and started making bets against each other, as to whether he'd nominate his team for the chuunin exam when it came up.

* * *

After eating, Hayate asked if they were ready to go train without him. Getting affirmative answers, he nodded, and turned as Inari walked down the stairs. The young boy turned to look over all the ninjas, without glaring this time, and continued to the table. Hayate smiled, proud of his student, and looked to the other two. They all have their strengths… He just had to find out how to help the other two to the best of his ability. 

Heading out into the woods near Tazuna's,the three genin each picked a tree. "Hinata, your chakra control is the best of the three of us. If you get it first, as I'm sure you will, will you aid us?" Shino questioned.

Hinata squeaked, but nodded.

As they got to work, their reactions greatly differed. Naruto nearly blew a hole in the tree, Shino couldn't stick to it, and Hinata actually got a few feet up before she squeaked and started to fall. Naruto instantly leapt beneath her to catch her before she hit the ground.

"How about we help Hinata from the ground, and then she helps myself, and then the two of us aid you Naruto?" Shino questioned.

Naruto grinned. "I'll catch you if you fall, ok Hinata!" Naruto looked at Hinata curiously as she turned bright red and nodded.

Naruto stepped back to watch and make sure that if she was unable to land correctly that he could catch her. Shino too, stood to the other side. Both paid rapt attention to what the blushing Hyuuga did with her chakra as best they could.

When she was able to walk up and down the tree a few times, they moved so that Hinata and Naruto were flanking Shino as Hinata shyly explained as best she could. She soon activated her byakugan like she did when watching herself walk to try and see what Shino was doing wrong. Once they got the amount of chakra worked out, Shino tried to walk up the tree.

For about an hour, Shino practiced, as Hinata turned to explain to Naruto near the end. Once Shino came down, she tried to help Naruto to regulate how much chakra he was using. Once he got the hang of it and practiced for an hour, he came back down to the ground for a small break. They then decided to see who could get the highest on their respective trees before practicing their fighting styles.

Trudging back to Tazuna's as the sun set, the three collapsed before the startled Hayate. "What happened to you three?"

"Naruto." Two of the three chorused, the third laughing weakly.

"What happened?" Hayate questioned worriedly.

"W-well, N-Naruto-kun's chakra is m-more potent than n-normal, a-and he t-tended to blow holes in the t-tree than climb at f-first." Hinata stammered, blushing.

"When I got the hang of the basics, we put all our energy to getting Naruto onto the tree." Shino calmly continued.

"And once I got it, we all tried to beat each other by trying to see how high we could go before trying to fight in our own trees." Naruto finished with a sheepish laugh. "Hinata won by getting as high as the tree could support her."

Hayate chuckled softly. "Not bad. Tomorrow continue to fight upon the tree. Try and stay up there as long as you can without getting out of the tree. Then get higher again, and of course, practice coming back down. Then work on staying on through training and such, after which I'll teach you the second stage. I don't think we'll have time for the third."

"Aside from the obvious, why this? Why not teach us some cool jutus!" Naruto whined.

Hayate laughed. "These exercises are to increase chakra control and the amount of chakra available. It could eventually mean the difference between a spark and a fireball. Alright?"

"Alright! Thanks for explaining, sensei!" Naruto grinned.

"No problem Naruto. Now, I want you all to stay alert, alright? It's likely we have a week before Zabuza returns, but that doesn't mean someone else won't come after us. I can be out to supervise you all tomorrow. For tonight, get some sleep. Stage two is the part I really want you to learn while we're out here." Hayate yawned, sliding back under the covers on his makeshift futon.

The others had been given pillows and blankets and told to pick a spot by the laughing Tazuna. Hinata chose to sleep down on the area nearer the door so she was out of sight, Shino took near the stairs leading up, and Naruto looked around for a moment uncertainly. He finally chose to set up camp below the window that was behind where Hayate slept. Partly in a vain hope to protect someone who's become nearly as precious to him as Iruka, partly because he was worried about him. He was clearly unwell, and hiding just how unwell he was.

* * *

A young, rather effeminate boy, in the same clothes as the hunter-nin, minus the mask, sat in a chair by Zabuza's bedside and loyally watched the slight rise and fall of his chest to assure he kept breathing. A pointless fear, as the only thing truly wrong with Zabuza at the moment was exhaustion. Nevertheless, he continued his silent vigil, watching over Zabuza and keeping his senses alert for any danger. 

Hearing the door creak open and footsteps following in, the boy looked up to witness a man painted up slightly similar to a clown and a man with many scars and tattoos, both clearly samurai, walk in to flank a short man with scruffy yellow-grey hair, small round black sunglasses, and a suit, a few feet in from the door.

"I'm surprised you have the nerve to show your face around here after taking a beating like that. Ninja from the Land of the Mist would appear to be vastly overrated. You can't even clean up for your miserable subordinates. 'Demon' my ass! Don't make me laugh!" The suited man snorted, walking a few steps closer to the duo near the bed.

As Zabuza's eyes opened, the two samurai swiftly stood between the businessman and the exhausted Zabuza. Just as they began to ready their swords, the businessman stepped forwards with a comment of, "Wait a minute, you two…" and walked forwards to stand beside the boy, right near Zabuza's head. "So… nothing to say for yourself? No last words?" He sneered, reaching for the bandages over the lower half of Zabuza's face and neck.

Only a few inches before reaching his goal, his wrist was grabbed in an iron-like grip, held onto by the young boy, hard enough to hear the bones grinding. "Don't defile Lord Zabuza with your touch." The boy snarled, a vicious glare upon his face as he eyed the businessman.

"How dare you?" The man shrieked, as the samurai started to draw their swords to remove the boy. As the samurai stepped forewords, they were stunned to realize each others swords were held to their own throats, by the young boy with his arms crossed and a sword in each hand.

As the businessman and the samurai started to sweat, easily realizing they were outclassed, the man started to back away rapidly. "Th-there had better not be any more mistakes. I-if you fail again, don't think you can come back here!"

The boy languidly threw the swords to the side, near the door as the three quickly left. As he retook his seat by Zabuza's bedside, Zabuza relaxed the grip he had on his kunai beneath the blankets. "Haku… there was no need for you to…"

Haku dipped his head in a light bow. "I know… But it's still too soon to finish Gato off. If we cause a commotion where we are, we might find ourselves on the run from **them** again. For now, let's be patient." Haku smiled.

* * *

Hayate looked around the construction occurring on the bridge in slight interest as he kept himself alert for any signs of danger. 

"Tazuna, can I talk to you?" One of the workers questioned. Hayate turned his attention to listening in.

"Huh? What's wrong Gi'ichi?" Tazuna asked.

"I've been thinking it over… this bridge we're working on… I want off the job!" Gi'ichi cried.

"Wh-why?!" Tazuna yelped, looking at him shocked. "Out of nowhere like this… you, of all people!!"

"Tazuna, we go back a long way. I want to help you, but we can't take this risk. Gato will take out a contract on us if we don't stop! And if you die, it won't be just this one project. We could all lose everything! Please, just give it up…" Gi'ichi pleaded. "The bridge isn't worth it."

"I can't do that…" Tazuna sighed. "This bridge belongs to us all. It's everything we've been working toward, for our entire city. When it's finished, it will bring trade and commerce and affluence to us, and put our poor, little land of the waves on the map!"

"But we're talking about **lives** here. **Your** life!" Gi'ichi nearly yelled.

"It's afternoon now already, isn't it? Let's call it a day." Tazuna sighed, turning and walking away. He paused to look over his shoulder to proclaim, "Gi'ichi… You don't have to come back."

Hayate turned and calmly followed after Tazuna, though he spared a worried look back for Gi'ichi. Turning forwards once more, he idly wondered how his students were doing after half demanding he let them train in peace so he could guard Tazuna. He got the feeling they were bound and determined to destroy whatever expectations he had for them. He had a feeling they'd manage too.

* * *

Hayate walked into the woods and followed the sounds of impacts, cries, yelps and weapons impacting the trees. He walked into the clearing and looked around in confusion for a second, before looking up in shock. _'They've already mastered this stage…'_

He continued to watch the three-way spar upon the trees in mute shock. Watching as Hinata lost her footing and twisted to spring from one tree to another before leaping up to rejoin the spar, Hayate couldn't help but grin.

He waited for a small lull in the fight to call out, "Alright you three, come on down!"

Waiting until they were all on the ground, sweating, panting, and smiling, Hayate grinned. "I'm very proud of all three of you. That usually takes far longer than two days to master the technique enough to spar with." He gave them a moment to soak up the praise and to recover, before turning and calling, "Now I'll show you the second part of the exercise, and where you're to practice it. After that, you're done for the day."

He led the exhausted genin to another nearby area in the forest with a small, calm area of water that connected out to the ocean further away. Once the genin were sitting or standing comfortably, Hayate started to explain. "Water-walking is the second stage of the trio of skills to channel and control chakra…"

As Hayate explained, and the genin picked up as much of it as they could, he felt even more proud of them. _'By the time these kids get older, they may be the best shinobi in the village.'_

Once the explanation was complete, and all questions were answered, Hayate headed over to the water to demonstrate what Zabuza had done earlier – walk on water.

Once he was sure they understood, and could thus learn in their own time if it came to that, they headed back to Tazuna's. "Remember, if you decide to walk away from this mission, all you need do is tell me. I will think no less of you." As his genin all gave him their own variations of the 'who, me?' look, Hayate sighed. _'This could get pretty bad, but… I think it'll turn out alright.'_


	7. Calm Before the Storm

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 07: The Calm Before the Storm

Hayate, Naruto, Hinata and Shino dutifully followed Tazuna into town. He had requested all four of them come with him after hearing questions as to why the bridge was so important that he'd risk his life to complete it.

Looking around in various stages of shock, the genin watched as people in rags and tattered clothes walked past. One man even wandered by with a sign over him saying 'will do any job you want'. They also heard the sounds of children crying, people begging, and cries of 'stop, thief!!' from all around them.

The buildings were shoddy, the glass cracked, and the floors were simple wooden planks over the same dirt that lined the streets. It was a far cry from the rich part of town, near the docks, where Gato and his men worked.

Hayate kept his attention on guarding their client, and his stunned genin. He's seen places that looked worse than this before, however, that didn't make it any easier to stomach. Tazuna just looked around sadly as he headed to the grocery store.

As they turned to head inside, they saw a kid, no older than eight, curled up beside the door, sleeping. There was graffiti on the walls of every building, and this one even had another sign, 'don't piss here', beneath the one that said simply 'grocery'.

Walking inside, they were even more shocked to see how bare the shelves were. There were only 2 or three of each of the limited selection of items within the store, and most weren't even fresh. The team of ninjas silently followed Tazuna around, each feeling the depression from the town around them too heavily to even try and find something to talk about.

A few moments after leaving, Hinata felt a tug on the back of her coat. Turning around fearfully, she saw a young, scruffy-looking little girl, holding her cupped hands out hopefully. Hesitating a moment, Hinata reached into her supply pouch and handed over the two left-over rice balls from lunch she had planned to give to Naruto if he got hungry.

Seeing one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen, even compared to Naruto's, spread across the girl's face, before she turned and skipped off eating her treat, Hinata smiled shyly. She turned and quickly caught up with her team in time to hear Naruto ask, "What's with this town?"

"It's been like this ever since Gato moved in." Tazuna signed. "We've become a city of slackers, cowards, and fools! That's why the bridge we are building is so essential! It will be an emblem of courage. Maybe the people who've taken the path of least resistance will be willing to walk the road of courage and dignity again. If we can only complete it… I truly believe that our city and our people can be what they once were again!"

Hayate looked away and refused to comment. After so many years as a ninja, he knew anyone willing to give up once, are less likely to try again. Shino seemed as unconcerned as ever, but he too, believed it unlikely. Hinata and Naruto, however, seemed to believe as Tazuna did, and for that, Hayate would say nothing. Let them hope.

* * *

As Tazuna sat down with his family and the ninja of team 8 for dinner, he couldn't help but look around and smile. "Boy, this is real fun! I can't remember the last time I've shared a meal with so many people!" 

Naruto just laughed playfully as he watched the last dishes being placed before them. "Me neither!"

He may not have noticed Hayate's flinch, but the rest of the table did. As they all dug in to eat, Naruto sang Tsunami's praises again, as he had done every meal since they got there. Every other meal had either her or Inari absent, one of the ninja absent, or Tazuna himself.

As everyone ate their share, the family spoke of things in town, and the ninja spoke of training. They had been requested by Hayate that morning to practice in the trees again, since they only had a few hours.

After eating, as they were all sitting around drinking tea and chatting, Naruto caught sight of a picture hanging on the wall. "Why's that picture torn? It looks like someone carefully pulled the piece off to not ruin the rest of the picture."

All three members of the little family flinched, drawing the ninja's attention. "It… was a picture of Inari's father." Tsunami sighed, turning to look out the window.

"…Once upon a time, if you will… our entire city called him a hero." Tazuna sighed.

Inari swiftly got up from the table and headed angrily for the stairs. "Inari! ...where are you going?" Tsunami cried. As the door to his room slammed shut behind him, she yelled, "**Inari**!" Getting no answer, she then rounded on Tazuna. "Father! I've told you time and again not to mention that in front of my son!" She nearly shrieked, before turning around and slamming into her own room.

"Is that what makes Inari act like that?" Naruto asked, showing enough tact to not call Inari names at this point. He was actually impressed with himself on that one.

"You needn't tell us if you don't wish, Tazuna-san, however, it may help us to better deal with the situation." Hayate calmly informed him.

Tazuna was silent for long enough that others thought he wouldn't say anything, before he sighed. "…The man in the picture was not Inari's birth father… but they were every bit as loving and close as any biological father and son could have been, if not more. Inari was such a happy, laughing child back then…" He began to shake with silent sobs. "…But Inari changed… after what happened to his father. Our people – and especially little Inari – were robbed of the very meaning of courage… because of what happened that day."

Tazuna took off his glasses and sighed. "Let me start at the beginning… and tell you about the man who our entire land called a champion and a hero. It was about three years ago… that Inari and the man first met.

_"Here Poochie!!" a young Inari cried. _

_"Not anymore! Starting now, his name is Shooting Star… and he belongs to me!!" a pudgy boy laughed cruelly. The small white dog in his arms had a rather blank expression on its face. _

_Inari struggled against the two boys holding him from each side – clearly the pudgy one's lackeys. "He's **not **a Shooting Star!! That's **my** Poochie!! **Give him back**!! Poochie's my friend! **You can't have him**!" _

_The fat one decided he'd had enough. "Shut up--!!" He yelled, plotting in the silence that ensued. Smirking evilly, he tossed the little white dog into the water. It only had enough time for a confused sounding "woof!?" before landing in the water with a loud splash. The poor little dog fought with all it's might to stay above the water. _

_"Poochie--!!!" Inari screamed. _

_"It's what you get for not handing him over when I ordered." The fat one laughed. "Who cares about a dumb dog, anyway?" He turned to his lackeys with a smirk. "Hey!! Let Inari go!" _

_"**You can't just drown my dog**!" Inari shrieked. _

_"Well, if the puppy means so much to you… better go save him!!" the bully taunted. _

_Inari's eyes welled up with tears as he stared at his flailing dog. _

_"Well, what are you waiting for? Are you just gonna just let him die?!!" Laughing uproariously, the bullies started to point, whisper and plan. _

_Inari stood shaking at the edge of the docks. 'Of course not!!! Poochie's my best friend! But… but… I'm sorry, Poochie… I don't know how to swim…!" _

_"Hey!! If you own him, why aren't you diving in?" Fatso sneered. Rearing back, he kicked Inari hard in the back and sent him flying forwards to land in the water beside his dog. _

_One of the lackeys fidgeted nervously, while the other rounded on their leader. "This ain't right Akane. What if he can't swim?" _

_"H-HELP! **HELP ME**!" Inari screamed, desperately trying to stay above the water. _

_Akane grabbed his lackey and snorted, "Aw, just leave him!" _

_"B-but…" The lackey stammered. _

_"Or do you want to be the next one performing a little pet rescue?" Akane growled, turning and walking away, his two lackeys nervously following. _

_As Inari continued to fight to stay above the water, Poochie's struggles became less and less frantic, and far more controlled. As he turned and slowly started to dogpaddle to shore, Inari cried out, "P-P-P-Poochie--!?" _

_Inari started to cry as he grew too tired to keep paddling. As Poochie reached shore, and the bullies chased him anew, Inari lost the fight, and started to slip beneath the water. As his vision started to blacken, Inari slid quietly into unconsciousness. _

_When Inari next came too, it was to a man's voice asking, "Are you awake, son?" He sat up and turned to look at the man. He had a rope tied around his forehead and was roasting fish over a fire. "I really bet those punks who were picking on you have it good. Here, eat!" _

_The first thought Inari had as to who the man may be, was god. A moment later, he decided not. He was, after all, still alive. "Did you… rescue me, mister?!" _

_"You've had a pretty rough time of it, haven't you?!" The man laughed. "Even your dog let you down. Where I come from, dogs are loyal. You can count on them. But… Well, I guess, since you let him down first, we really shouldn't be too hard on him." _

_Inari slumped in his seat, gripping both ends of the stick impaled through the fish. "I was too scared to even move." Inari whimpered, catching the man's attention. "I **wanted** to rescue him… but… I guess I wasn't brave enough." He sobbed. _

_The man reached over and patted Inari on the head. "…Of course not… Any kid your age would have been terrified. But keep in mind, son… When you do become a man, you have to walk a road that won't leave you filled with regrets." _

_Inari looked up at the man in awe. "If something is precious to you… No matter how painful or how hard it seems, no matter what it may cost you, you have to hang in there… and protect it with all the strength you've got, even at the risk of your own life!"The man grinned, flexing his muscles playfully. Inari just gaped at him in awe."If you do that, then even if you die in the attempt, at least the world will be left with the proof that a man worth living had died! It'd be your legacy… Right?!" Inari nodded gleefully, breaking into a massive smile. _

"His name was Kaiza. He was a fisherman who came here from abroad to seek his fortune. From that day forward, Inari's affection and admiration for Kaiza grew and grew. It probably had something to do with Inari's real father having died before the boy was old enough to remember him, but even so… that boy stuck to Kaiza like white on rice. They were always together, like any other father and son." Tazuna continued. Naruto and the others were listening raptly. "In no time at all, Kaiza was like one of the family. And he was just the kind of man this town needs more of!" 

_The door slammed open with enough force to almost bounce back in the frantic man's face after he threw it open. "__Kaiza__, the rain's so __heavy;__ it's overflowed the riverbanks and forced open all of the locks!!__ At this rate, all of Sector D will be flooded!!__"_

_"What?!!"__Kaiza__ roared, leaping to his feet._

_"Daddy!!"__ Inari yelped, springing up after him._

_"Inari, go to the back and get the ropes!" __Kaiza__ yelled._

_"Okay!" Inari yelped._

_---_

_"This is awful – the only way we could possibly get this lock closed is if we put a rope around the entire barrier and pull it, but…" One man commented fearfully._

_Another man, frantic with worry cut in. "Impossible! How could we get a rope around it in the first place?! Anyone who goes into that torrent will be swept away and drowned!!" _

_A terrified young woman pitched in. "The longer we wait, the worse it will get… and Sector D is running out of time!" _

_"I'll go!" Kaiza called, heading towards the front. _

_"Kaiza!!" Most of the gathered people called out together in amazement. "It can't be done, man!!" Someone cried. "You'll be throwing your life away! Don't risk it!!" Another yelled. _

_"**Daddy**!!" Inari cried, terrified. _

_"Don't worry, Inari… Daddy can do anything!" Kaiza reassured him, patting him on the head. "Because he loves the city where his little boy lives!" _

_Inari watched with amazement as Kaiza grabbed the ropes and leapt into the torrent. "Kaiza!" Numerous people cried. Inari remembered Kaiza's speech from the first day they met as his father became a hero. "Go, Daddy--!!" Inari whooped. _

_"He's done it!!! The rope's in place!! Pull everyone! Pull!" _

"That was when… people here started calling Kaiza a champion and a hero. With a father like that, Inari could hold his head up high." Tazuna smiled sadly. "…Until Gato came to town…" 

The ninja all watched Tazuna raptly. "So… what happened?" Naruto nearly whispered.

Tazuna started to shake with the force of his silent sobs. "In front of the entire city… Gato had Kaiza put to death!"

_"Everybody listen up! This man has committed acts of violence and terrorism against my company and our activities here." Gato cried out to the shocked and horrified villagers kept at bay by a chain fence. Kaiza was roped to a wooden cross by his shoulders, stomach and legs. His arms had been cut off, one eye was swollen shut, he was drooling blood, and was covered in cuts and bruises. "He's openly denounced our policies and tried to incite sabotage and resistance against us, and disrupted the order of this land. The penalty for all his crimes is death. The sentence will be carried out at once…" Here Gato began to smirk. "…To ensure that such an awful thing will never disturb any of us, ever again!"_

_"Daddy!!" Inari shrieked, catching his father's attention. _

_"Inari!" He croaked. He managed a crooked smile of pride for his son, and hoped that after he was gone, that Inari would still remember the important message he taught him. _

_"Now!" Gato cried, causing one of his samurai to unsheathe his sword and walk towards the bound man. _

_"**DADDY**!!!!" Inari wailed. _

"Ever since then, Inari has changed… and Tsunami… and everyone in this city's changed, too." Tazuna sighed, looking away. 

Naruto just looked deep in thought for a moment. "That's it!" Naruto mumbled, catching everyone's attention.

"What is?" Hayate questioned, confused.

"That's how I can help Inari. I can show him there are still heroes in this world! Hayate, please tell us we'll be training tomorrow!!"

Hayate grinned. "Yes. Tomorrow we work on water-walking."

* * *

Hayate languidly stripped off his jonin vest, and hung it on the same branch as his sword and other weapons. Next, he untied his hitai-ate and placed it on the tree as well. Grasping his shirt, he slipped it over his head and hung it on another branch as he kicked off his sandals. He contemplated stripping down to his boxers, but decided Hinata was still too shy, and would likely pass out rather than train. 

Sooner or later, that girl was going to have to learn that there are too few kunoichi to make teams of only women, thus she'll need to accept the fact that seeing ninja naked, or nearly anyway, was a hazard on long-term missions. But for now, she had some time left, so he resigned himself to swimming in his pants.

Walking towards the lake calmly, he paused after he had waded in to his waist. Looking down at his reflection, he couldn't help but snort and shake his head. His long, scruffy brown hair fell around his too-pale face, the bags beneath his tired eyes plainly visible. His pale chest, not a hair to be seen, was marred by thin, pale scratches and old scars, and was thinner than it should be, and his arms had far less definition than any swordsman should have, let alone one of his caliber and age.

His sickness drained him slowly of his heath and strength from the day he was born with it. When he had been younger, he had learned at twice the pace of the other genin just to keep ahead of it. Everyone had always told him he didn't have what it took to be a ninja, that he'd die before making chuunin. Well, he proudly wore his chuunin vest with pride, as it was host to his tokubetsu jonin badge. He far surpassed what any relative of his had done for at **least** 3 generations. And he was proud of it.

Shaking his head again to clear out the morose thoughts, Hayate surged into the water for a brief swim until his students got there.

* * *

As Naruto, Hinata and Shino headed to the lake, where they could hear the sounds of splashing, they wondered what Hayate was up to. Walking into the clearing to find most of his clothes hung up on a tree while he swam caused for a few shocked reactions, especially from Hinata. 

"Come on in!" Hayate called. "The best way to start is from inside the water. That, and you're likely to get wet anyways."

Hinata squeaked and stayed shaking in place, Shino hesitated, and Naruto shrugged, stripped quickly to his boxers, threw his gear and clothes onto a different branch and walked in until the water was up to his neck. "Come on in further Naruto. Shino, Hinata, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We are a team, after all. At the very least, just remove your jackets."

Naruto swallowed shyly. "Um… Hayate-sensei?"

Shino slipped his coat onto another tree and hesitantly placed his sunglasses, weapons, and hitai-ate on top, leaving himself in a mesh shirt, and his black pants. He then started to make his way towards the water while Hinata continued to fidget.

"Yes Naruto?" Hayate questioned curiously, turning around to backstroke closer to his students.

"Erm… I can't… well… um… I don't know how to swim." Naruto stammered, embarrassed.

Hayate looked at him in surprise. "Well, I guess you and I can work on that while the other two try and learn water-walking. When you're done, then they, and I, can help you catch up."

Naruto shyly nodded. "Kay." Then he grinned and cried out, "Oy, Hinata! C'mon!"

Hinata squeaked, but shakily started to remove her jacket. Once it was off and hanging on a tree, along with her hitai-ate and weapons, Hinata was revealed to be wearing a black t-shirt over a black mesh top, and her black baggy pants. Swiftly darting into the water, and blushing beet red to the tips of her toes, Hinata shyly stammered out a, "Ready!"

Hayate nodded, and swam closer to Naruto so the blond could listen easier. He explained, once again how water-walking was done, then told them to practice. "If either of you need my help, just let me know. Right now, I've got to teach Naruto to swim."

Both genin nodded, and then headed further out to another side of the lake.

"Alright, now, first, I'm going to teach you how to tread water…" Hayate began.

* * *

After a quick lunch, it was a very happy Naruto that joined his teammates in learning to walk on water. He still wasn't very good at swimming, but he had learned it, now only practice would help. He had a feeling he'd be getting a lot of practice while practicing water-walking. 

He wasn't wrong.

For the first hour, Hayate helped the other two to get the gist of it, before he swam over and began to help Naruto out, with Hinata shyly calling out pointers with her byakugan activated to see what he was doing wrong.

All in all, it was a very wet, very tired, and very happy team 8 that headed back to Tazuna's that night, a far closer team than when they'd left that morning. Dinner was a quiet affair, neither Tsunami nor Inari choosing to eat with them that night.

Remembering the promise he made about proving the existence of heroes, Naruto slipped out after the others were asleep, softly informing Hayate, who woke up to the sound of him leaving, that he just needed some fresh air for a bit. Not seeing a reason to question him, Hayate rolled over and went back to sleep.

* * *

A young girl sat picking plants and placing them into a basket in the incredibly early hours that morning. As she reached for another of the plant, a bird flew over and landed on her shoulder, twittering happily. The girl smiled happily herself, and turned to watch the bird fly off, gasping startled at seeing a blonde shinobi, maybe a few years younger than her, passed out beneath a tree beside the nearby lake. Birds were all over him, and he had a thin stream of drool dribbling down the side of his mouth closest to the ground. 

Walking closer, she slowly started to reach down for him, scaring the birds away. She gently reached down for him, and gave him a gentle shake. "You'll catch your death of cold, sleeping on the ground, especially soaking wet!" She gasped once his eyes fluttered open with a soft exclamation of, "Wha…?"

She giggled, and sat back at Naruto sat up. "Who… are you--?" Naruto questioned, stunned.

* * *

"Hey! Hey! Have I picked enough of those herbs you wanted?" Naruto cheerfully questioned, bouncing carefully back to the beautiful girl who asked him to help. "Are these grasses and weeds really medicinal?" 

"I'm sorry to have imposed on you." The girl shyly apologized.

"That's some job you took on, girl… Harvesting all that this early in the morning." Naruto grinned, squatting down across from her after placing his load into her basket with the rest.

"Look at who's talking!" she laughed, "What were you doing in the middle of nowhere at the crack of dawn?"

Naruto sat up straighter and proudly stated, "Training!!"

The girl looked at him startled for a moment, before asking, "Really? That headband you're wearing… are you some kind of ninja?"

Naruto sat up even straighter and smiled his foxy smile. "Yep! Why, do I look like one?" He asked hopefully.

"Wow – That's incredible!" She gasped.

Naruto laughed happily.

"What are you training for?" She asked curiously.

"To build up my strength." Naruto replied, grinning.

"But… but you look so strong and manly already!" She gasped out.

"Really? Well, not strong enough! I need to be a lot stronger than this!" He replied fiercely, blushing.

"But… why…?" She questioned softly.

"To become top dog in my hometown! All the people who used to treat me like dirt will have to say 'He's the number one ninja'! And right at the moment, I kind of have to prove a point… to a certain person I know." Naruto proclaimed proudly.

She just looked at him for a moment, before asking, "…Are you doing this for the sake of that person… or for your own satisfaction?"

"Wha…?" He murmured, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

She burst into giggles as he demanded to know what was so funny. "…Do you have… anyone special in your life?" She questioned.

Naruto looked at the girl in confusion as she spaced out for a moment, before she continued. "When people… are protecting something truly precious to them, they truly can become… as strong as they must be!"

Naruto looked at her wide-eyed for a moment, flashing back to Iruka-sensei and his fight with Mizuki, before he burst into a happy smile. "Yup! I know all about it!"

She smiled serenely, and stood up, grabbing her basket as she did. Naruto watched her turn and start to walk off, as she stated, "You **will** get stronger… I know we'll meet again."

"Right!" Naruto chirped happily.

"…So… you should know… I'm a boy." 'She' smirked, looking over 'her' shoulder at Naruto, before vanishing into the trees.

Naruto gaped after him, stunned. 'He's even prettier than Sakura!'

* * *

Waking up without Naruto in the entire house worried team 8 greatly. They quickly ate, Hinata grabbed some food for Naruto, and then they headed outside. After a bit of brainstorming, they headed towards the lake to see if Naruto was there. He was, and he was walking on the water, steadier than the other two could do yet. 

"Only you, Naruto…" Hayate chuckled, as the team headed over to join the blonde.


	8. Birth of a young Hero

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 08: Birth of a Young Hero

Inari sat on his desk before the window, listening to the sea outside, feeling the early-morning sun, and staring at his father's picture once more. Hearing a soft knock on his door, he softly called, "It's open."

Naruto stepped in and asked, "Ready to give me another try?"

Inari snorted, but sure enough, asked, "How'd you know I was hurting mom and gramps?"

Naruto sighed, and walked over to sit on the desk beside the young boy. "'Cause the Hokage, who's kinda like a grandpa to me, is upset whenever I'm hurt or unhappy, and lately, so's Iruka-sensei. I like to think maybe Hinata, Shino and Hayate-sensei do too, but I'm not too sure yet. I know I would for them, though."

Inari slowly nodded. "I'll try. I don't like hurting mom or gramps, so I'll try. What about your parents?"

Naruto looked away. "I never knew them. I still don't know who they are. I haven't gotten the courage to ask gramps incase they gave me up or somethin'. 'Cause, on top of everything else, that would just hurt too much."

Inari stared at Naruto, slightly shocked. _'Neither parent?'_

"Of coarse, that wasn't the worst of it, but that doesn't matter now. See, thing is, I got something worth fighting for, and that keeps me going on even the worst days. I'm going to be the Hokage someday! The best one Konoha's ever had!" Naruto proclaimed with a smile.

Inari grinned weakly back. "Hey Naruto… what's it like to be a ninja…?"

* * *

During dinner that night, Inari was tearfully thinking over what Naruto said, and slowly beginning to discard it. There was no way he could be that miserable, and still be so happy now. As Naruto continued to chat and joke with his team, Inari felt the tears well up and spill down. 

"Hm? What's wrong?" Naruto questioned, concerned as he turned to look at Inari.

That did it. Inari yelled out, "Why do you wear yourself out trying?! No matter how hard you train, you'll never be a match for Gato's thugs!" _'Though after what you said today, I almost wish you were…'_ "You act all cool, and you talk all tough… but big, strong guys like that are always too much for people weaker than they are. They'll destroy you!!" He stood and slammed his hands down on the table by the end of his little speech, gaining shocked looks from everyone in the room.

Naruto had shown, at least for him, quite a bit of patience on this whole issue so far. Said patience just ran out. "Shut up! I'm not you, and I'm not gonna lose!" He growled angrily.

"Just watching you ticks me off! You go running your mouth when you don't know a thing! This isn't your town! And you don't know a thing about me! You're always clowning around, and having fun. You don't know a thing about suffering or loneliness or what my life is like!!" Inari screamed, with tears running down his face.

Naruto flinched, before standing up sharply and growled. "So… you figure it's noble to star in your own melodrama and treat everyone around you like guests at you pity party?" Naruto turned what was likely the harshest glare he's ever given in his entire life to the child just then before snarling, "It takes a really big man to sit around and cry… you brat! **You big _baby_**!!"

Swiftly, Naruto got up and headed into the other room, where he had claimed his sleeping space, before he could do anything he'd truly regret.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered, as she and Shino watched Naruto leave worriedly. Hayate watched his student for a moment, before giving a disapproving look to the crying boy at the table.

* * *

Later that night, Inari walked outside and gave a small noise of surprise. "Inari? Come over here for a moment, would you?" Hayate questioned. 

"Umm, alright." Inari stammered, wiping the last of his tears away, and walking over to sit beside the jonin.

"What has Naruto told you about himself?" Hayate asked, turning to look at the boy.

"Umm, he's told me he never knew his parents, and doesn't even know who they are… he's mentioned the Hokage being like a grandpa to him… and that someone named Iruka meant a lot to him too…" Inari whimpered, thinking back.

Hayate sighed. "Naruto understands better than most people would ever wish to just how cruel people can be. Gato was cruel to you by taking your father away, yes. But did you know nearly our whole village at some point or another has tried to kill him? Attacked him in the streets? Glare at him just for living? As far as he sees it, he has an entire village full of Gatos all around him. And you know what the really amazing part is?"

Inari, eyes wide, shook his head in shock, and a good amount of guilt.

"He wants to become Hokage. He wants to protect all those people, something I find myself unhappy to do on some days. He wants to prove to them he's worth something, gain their respect. And you know what?" Hayate said in amazement.

"What?" Inari nearly breathed.

"He's actually managing it. One person at a time, but he's managing it. Sooner or later, he'll win over the whole village, I know he will." Hayate smiled proudly. He then murmured, too quiet for Inari, who looked completely shocked, to hear, "I just hope I'm there to see it…"

As Inari shook himself out of his shock, Hayate told him he should head inside. "Can you send Naruto out?" He asked.

Hayate turned back to watching the waves as he awaited Naruto. _'They should still learn the snow-walking exercise before letting them loose on any __jutsu__ learning, but… the chuunin exams are coming up, and I'm almost positive they all have what it takes… maybe I can postpone the snow-walking, not many even bother to learn that stage anyway… and where would I find snow in Konoha in July?' _

Naruto walking out shook him from his musing. "Yo, Hayate-sensei!" Naruto chirped. "Wha'd you wanna see me for?"

Hayate just motioned him to sit down beside him, where Inari had just vacated. "I'm proud of how hard you and your teammates are working Naruto. I'm also proud of how you're helping Inari."

Naruto just smiled shyly.

"Now, on another matter, what would you prefer? Learning the last stage of the walking abilities, snow-walking, or learning justu, then going back to snow-walking?" Hayate questioned.

"Erm… I'd prefer jutsu's, but I'd live with the other choice." Naruto decided after giving it some thought.

"That's another thing I'm proud of you for. When I got you as a student, you'd have yelled your first choice without a second thought. You think things through now, and I'm proud of you for it. Alright then. I'm not very good with jutsu's, but I've got some friends who are. I'll talk with them when we get back, alright?" Hayate smiled.

"Alright!" Naruto laughed.

Hayate grinned, and stood, saying, "Let's head in. I've got one last thing to say to everyone before we go to bed."

They got up and headed inside. Once assured the whole team was there, Hayate began. "Alright. When we get back, I'll talk to some friends of mine to get you guys all trained up, jutsu-wise. We can worry about snow-walking later, it's kinda obscure anyway. I want you all to train extra-hard when we get back, I can't tell you why yet."

Seeing the smiles on two of his student's faces, while the third one nodded, he continued. "Now, for the bad news. It's likely Zabuza has healed by now, I'm not sure. Hinata, Shino, you two will go with me to the bridge early tomorrow to guard Tazuna. Naruto, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on things. Every day a different one of you three will stay behind to guard Tazuna's family. Any questions?"

"Why me first?" Naruto asked.

"Because you were training so hard today with your katas, sword fighting, and shuriken, yes I saw you, I figured you could use the slight break. That, and Inari might like you around tomorrow to talk to after what you told him today." Hayate answered.

Naruto smiled slightly. "Alright."

* * *

"Wh-What the hell…?" Tazuna gasped, seeing numerous of his workers strewn across the bridge. He ran over to one of them and slid down to his knees beside him as he lifted the man's head into his lap. "What happened?! What… could have…?!" 

The man gasped out, "M-monsters…" Before his eyes slid shut.

Looking around, Tazuna realized the few workers that always got to work before even he did were the ones strewn all over the bridge. All of them were likely now dead, if the amount of blood was anything to go by.

Hayate looked around worriedly as he ordered Hinata and Shino to guard and flank Tazuna.

* * *

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to the sound of birds; Tsunami's talking, likely to Inari, and the sound of the waves. He took a moment to stretch a second time, lazily; as he reflected on the fact he could grow to love the sound of the waves outside almost as much as the forests back home. 

After getting up and getting dressed, he decided to go and get something to eat before he took up keeping an eye out.

"Inari, could you please help me do the laundry?" Tsunami asked, walking past the kitchen with a nod to Naruto.

Naruto waved back as he heard Inari's reply. "Okay, mom, but I'm in the bathroom now!"

After eating, Naruto headed outside to start to circle the house, and keep both eyes and ears attuned for any noise, or movement that may be threatening to the people within the house.

Mid-leap, Naruto heard something rustle along the forest floor. Landing silently on the branch, he cocked his head to listen harder.

* * *

Hayate looked worriedly as the mist slowly seeped in. It only took a moment to realize it wasn't natural. "Hinata, activate your byakugan, Shino, you and Hinata will guard Tazuna. Zabuza's mine." Hayate murmured quietly. He saw Tazuna shiver, and Hinata and Shino quickly did as asked. 

Activating her bloodline, Hinata tried to see him coming through the mist as she guarded Tazuna. As the mist fully enveloped them, Hinata swallowed at seeing numerous shapes heading towards them. "Hayate, c-clones!"

"Back again I see, Hayate… And I see you've got those brats tagging along, just like last time." Zabuza laughed as his clones became visible, circling the trio.

In a nearly invisible maneuver, Hayate drew his sword, twisted and shot through all the clones in such quick precision, it almost seemed like he simply turned in a circle where he stood, pulling his sword around to rest between himself and Zabuza.

"Bravo." Zabuza laughed, "It seems you've gotten even stronger." He then stepped forwards out of the mist, with the young hunter-nin following him. "I wonder if your brats are a challenge to Haku?" He smirked coldly.

"Too bad. It does seem I was right. You lived, and the hunter was on your side." Hayate sighed.

"He has nerve, showing up like this!" Tazuna growled.

"Change of plans. You two will have to take on Haku while keeping an eye on Tazuna. You think you can handle that?" Hayate questioned softly.

Hinata paled, but nodded, Shino simply nodded calmly.

Zabuza laughed coldly. "Time to fight Haku. **Go**!"

"Hai, Zabuza-san!" Haku answered, launching forwards, as Zabuza went for Hayate.

* * *

The doors were splintered as two samurai stormed into the house. Tsunami looked up fearfully as the goons laughed. "Old man Tazuna's daughter, huh?" The one resembling a clown grinned. "Sorry, but you're coming with us." 

Inari, out on the other side of the house hanging laundry his mom had finished with, leapt fearfully, and dropped what he was holding to the ground as he heard his mother scream. He tore through the house as quickly as he could to watch his mother cowering in the corner of the kitchen as two samurai advanced on her. The splintered remains of the table offering little to sheild her from the advancing men.

"MAMA!!" Inari yelped, stepping a little further in the room.

"What do you want, brat?!" The scarred samurai snarled, turning to look at the kid.

"**Run Inari! DON'T COME IN**!!" Tsunami screamed.

"Should we grab him too?" Clowny questioned.

"We only need one hostage." Scar-face growled.

Inari flinched back behind the door. '_Hostage…__'_

Scar-face laughed coldly. "Too bad… for him!" He started to unsheathe his sword as Inari backed away even further, and started to cry.

"WAIT!!" Tsunami cried out. "…If you **dare** touch my child… I'll bite through my tongue and drown in my own blood. **Then what will you do for a live hostage**?"

Inari's eyes went wide over his mother's words. He never thought she was a hero too…

"Heh… be grateful to your ma, kiddo." Clowny chuckled.

Scar-face just growled, pissed he lost the chance to kill the brat.

Inari collapsed to cry as silently as he could, feeling so very useless as he heard the samurai laugh and taunt his mother as they tried to drag her to her feet and drag her outside. _'Mama… I'm so sorry… I'm a weak little crybaby… I can't save you… And I'm afraid! I don't want to die!'_ Curling in on himself tighter as he heard the samurai get his mother to the door, he remembered what Naruto said as his tears hit his hand.

He opened his streaming eyes wide for a moment in shock as he also remembered what Hayate said in regards to Naruto. He swallowed thickly, and turned his gaze down, to his hands, and remembered his fathers' words last.

Seeing Hayate, Hinata, Shino, his mom, his gramps, Naruto and his father in his mind's eye, he wiped his tears and stood up proud. _'Can I… could I… be strong too… __Daddy?!__ Like you… like mom… like… Naruto…__'_

The samurai had her halfway down the docks when Inari caught up to them, crying "**WAIT**!!"

Both thugs, as well as Tsunami, turned to look back in shock at Inari running at them, full tilt, yelling, "Y-You get away from my mama!!"

Shoving the tied-up hostage behind them, the samurai quickly drew their swords with smiles on their faces. As they sliced the kid apart, and Tsunami screamed frantically for her son, the samurai were shocked to discover they had sliced apart a log, rather than the kid.

"You alright, Inari?" Naruto questioned sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late."

Inari just stared at Naruto in amazement.

Naruto laughed. "Way to go, Inari!! When you distracted them, I was able to save your mother!"

The samurai whirled on Naruto angrily realizing that he did kidnap their hostage. As the two samurai charged him, Inari asked worriedly, "Naruto! Will you be okay?"

"No sweat." Naruto laughed, pulling out two shuriken and letting them fly at the samurai. It was a simple thing for them to avoid the projectiles, just as Naruto had hoped it would be.

"You expect those toys to affect us?" Scar-face laughed.

"Suckers!" Naruto grinned. The shuriken behind the two samurai turned out to not be shuriken at all, but clones disguised as shuriken.

Each clone kicked the back of a samurai's head at an angle so the two head butted each other after their kick to the head.

Needless to day, they were out for the count. The rope that has been lying around the docks, and the stuff they untied from Inari's mom, was swiftly used to truss the two samurai up like turkeys together.

"Naruto… How'd you know those samurai were coming?" Inari questioned as he headed back to his mom.

"Well, after hearing the rustling, I tried to listen closer and I thought I heard footsteps, so I headed closer. I had to go slow, to be quiet, in case it was Zabuza or someone; I wanted to remain unnoticed if I could. So I got to where I heard the rustling and hit the ground to notice footsteps headed to your place. Of course, trying to figure it out, ninja-like, became kinda pointless when I heard your mom scream. Until then, I thought it might have just been old footprints from friends of your gramps or something." Naruto explained.

"But forget that…" Naruto grinned, catching Inari's still-stunned attention. "Inari… I owe you an apology."

"Why?" Inari breathed.

"Well… um… I'm sorry I called you a baby. It's not true, okay?" Naruto sheepishly grinned, scratching the back of his head.

As he reached out to fluff Inari's hair, Inari whispered. "I was a baby. But… I guess I'm not now, huh?"

Naruto grinned. "Nah. You're a big, strong, boy!"

As he pulled his hand away from Inari's hair, he noticed the kid had started to cry.

"Oh no… I promised myself I wouldn't cry… you'll make fun of me again…" Inari sniffled.

"No way!!" Naruto laughed softly, catching Inari's startled attention again. Naruto once again thought back to the so-far happiest moment of his life, when Iruka had proudly declared his respect for him.

Naruto felt one of his foxy grins slide across his face as he continued, "Nothing wrong with crying… when you're happy!"

Inari burst into fresh tears as he watched the boy he so wished was his older brother head over to lightly kick the ball of rope that the samurai had become wrapped in. "If they attacked us here, it means the bridge is probably a target, too! You can handle things here, right?" Naruto grinned, turning to look at Inari.

Inari wiped his tears and nodded. "Yeah… You bet!"

Naruto grinned, as he turned and once more leapt for the trees. He had to get to the bridge. It was unlikely that a second attempt would occur on Tazuna's family unless they noticed they had no hostage later.

* * *

As Haku appeared before the genin, Hinata leapt forwards to counter Haku's advance as Shino had silently requested. She had no clue what he was planning at the moment, but she trusted in her team, and did as asked. 

As she countered Haku, the hunter asked her, "I don't want to have to kill you, but… you probably won't leave quietly, will you…?"

Hinata shook slightly, but firmly stated, "D-don't be s-stupid…"

Haku just shrugged as he continued, "Just as I thought… However, you won't be able to match my speed for long… And I've laid the groundwork for two attacks."

"Two…?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Firstly, there's the water splashed all around us. Secondly, I've trapped one of your hands with parrying this move…" Haku calmly stated, continuing to keep her one arm trapped, "…Which leaves you only one hand free to defend yourself from my attacks!"

As Haku and Hinata faced off, water-needles vs. byakugan eyesight, Shino was working on his own plan to help both his sensei and his teammate. Holding up a single finger before his eyes, he softly communicated with the kikaichu still in his body and the ones that still swarmed within Zabuza's.

Meanwhile, Zabuza had leapt for Hayate and started another sword fight. His massive cleaver vs. Hayate's katana should have had a clear-cut winner, but Hayate was much faster, whereas Zabuza was much stronger. Thus, they were fairly evenly matched.

Hinata continued to hold her own against Haku, nearly keeping up with him, speed-wise. As she managed a swift kick to his chin that sent him back a few feet, she heard the unmistakable sound of metal grinding metal as Zabuza laughed, "Haku… do you understand, if this goes on, you could wind up dying at the hands of the very person you sought to spare?" He was swiftly locked in combat with Hayate once more, as he slipped out of the hold, and scored a shallow slice across Zabuza's side.

"Yes, I do…" Haku sighed, standing back up. "What a pity."

Hinata looked around worriedly as the air grew suddenly colder. As the water across the ground quivered, then splashed up as it seemed to freeze, Hinata looked around the mirrors fearfully. They were all around her, even above, and her byakugan couldn't see through them.

As Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, Hinata knew she was in trouble. She couldn't even tell which mirror held the real Haku.

Taking a deep breath as the attacks started to come at her from every angle, Hinata closed her eyes and prayed. "Kaiten!"

It was imperfect, and only deflected about half the attacks, but it was something, and she couldn't have been more grateful in that moment.

Watching both fights from where he was guarding Tazuna, Shino finished explaining to his Kikaichu what he wanted done, and turned to watch Hinata's fight worriedly. Watching her imperfect Kaiten spring up, he launched a barrage of kunai towards one of the mirrors, at the very least, hoping to shatter it and give Hinata a small opening.

Haku had other plans, however, as he stepped from within the mirror and countered the kunai. However, he was completely unprepared for the shuriken from his other side. Especially when said shuriken turned into Naruto and kicked him upside the head.

Both fights going on seemed to pause for a moment, as the clone 'poofed' and Naruto was revealed, standing between Hinata and Haku.

As Haku lay on the ground, dazed, for a moment, Naruto turned to ensure Hinata was alright, then turned to Shino. "Keep watch on the old man, alright Shino? I think Hinata and I have this one!"

Shino nodded. That suited his plans just fine. His kikaichu were hard at work feeding off of Zabuza's chakra, leaving him soon with nothing more then taijutsu and kenjutsu against their sensei once more. Once Zabuza was drained, if the fight with Haku was still going on, he'd drain Haku's reserves… If he had enough bugs left able too. His hive wasn't very big yet, and each bug could only eat so much chakra at a time…

As Zabuza turned, and let a barrage of shuriken fly at Naruto, Haku, surprisingly, leapt to his feet and countered them all with senbon. "Haku?" Zabuza grunted in confusion, as he tried to make sense of his tool's actions and keep Hayate from dismembering him at the same time.

"My apologies, Zabuza-san. But let me deal with him." Haku proclaimed.

Zabuza laughed, but concentrated on his own fight once more.

As Haku slid back within the mirrors, Hinata swiftly informed Naruto to her near-blind state when it came to finding Haku within the mirrors.

"Not good…" Naruto murmured, thinking fast.

As Shino continued to keep an eye on both fights simultaneously, he got word from his kikaichu that Zabuza's reserves were empty. He heard Zabuza's confused yelp as the bugs swiftly exited and came back to him, and Hayate's laugh of understanding, before turning his attentions on Hinata, Naruto, and Haku again.

Requesting the same of his kikaichu, to drain Haku of chakra and disrupt his ice mirrors if possible, Shino watched his kikaichu spread out and head over. He was confused, and worried, when they accepted trying to feed from the mirrors, but that they wouldn't touch Haku's chakra… much like they refused to touch Naruto's, in fact…

Haku, within the ice mirrors, caught Hinata and Naruto's attention by proclaiming, "I… find it difficult to embrace the full shinobi philosophy. I can't help but prefer that the pair of you… not force me to kill you. However, if you two are going to come at me… I shall kill my own heart with my blade – just as the word 'shinobi' was originally the words 'heart' and 'blade' – and act as a full-fledged shinobi would!" He paused a moment, to watch Hinata tremble again, but still stand tall, and Naruto continue to watch him defiantly. "This bridge is a nexus of our destinies… and all our dreams and futures balance on the edge of a knife. I have my own dreams… as you have yours… please try not to resent me, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes… to protect the one I care about most… to fight, kill, or die to fulfill that person's dreams. Doing so is my own dream. To that end, I will become a true shinobi… and I shall kill you both."

Zabuza snorted, and bashed Hayate away from him for an attempt to call up a clone, and froze in shock when he realized his chakra was totally depleted.

"Like Shino's chakra-eating kikaichu?" Hayate grinned, surging forwards and managing to give Zabuza another slice as the mist-nin leapt backwards and brought up his sword again.

Hayate spared a worried thought for his students. This wasn't a fight where a knock-out was the most likely, and safest, ending. He didn't think his students had what it took to kill another.


	9. Awaken the Demon

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 09: Awaken the Demon

As Hayate was blocked from his next attack, Zabuza decided to enlighten his adversaries as to why they wouldn't win.

"By all means, defeat me… If you can. You still won't have what it takes to kill Haku!" Zabuza laughed as he continued to block or evade all of Hayate's attempts to strike him down. "Since he was a toddler… I've beaten his fighting skills into him! Even in the face of unthinkable adversity, he has always prevailed! He's lost all regard for his own life, and had become a killing machine… a true shinobi. His skills surpass even my own. And he bears within him the formidable legacy of an unknown kekkei genkai! Thus, I have forged and carry with me a weapon of matchless quality and skill… Entirely unlike the scraps of trash that follow at your heels." Zabuza nearly purred crazily.

Hayate shifted his stance as he was tossed aside by Zabuza once more. "My students may yet surprise you Zabuza… I'm sure Haku is no match for them. It's whether they'll be able to hold him down long enough for me to kill him that's the question. For you were right about one thing… None of my students has yet had to take a life – and I sincerely hope they won't have to for a long while."

Twisting in a spiral ark, as Zabuza brought up his sword to try and block him, Hayate twisted down and scored another gash on the man's leg as he leapt aside before it became more than a glancing blow. On his way back up, however, Hayate was unprepared for the fist to the face.

Flying back a few feet to land closer to Tazuna than he would have liked, he twisted in the air to land on his feet. Eyeing Zabuza warily, he knew he had to come up with a better plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata stood back-to-back, panting and trying to discover ahead of time where Haku would appear next so they could stop him. Scratches covered the both of them, and at some point, Hinata's jacket had become sleeveless, but they still stood, taking the abuse from Haku and trying to deal some back. 

As Haku made the mist outside of their prison thicken, they knew their sensei was likely in trouble in his own fight against Zabuza. Taking the breather offered, they quickly regrouped and tried to come up with a plan.

Being as how Hinata couldn't see through the mirrors, let alone inside them, and he was just too fast for them, they knew they were likely screwed. In typical Naruto fashion, however, he opened his mouth and declared, "There's no way in hell I'm gonna die yet! I've still got too much to do!"

Both froze at hearing something shift, and turned, almost as one, in that direction, realizing they could hear Haku approaching this time. _'Does this mean he's getting tired?'_ Both thought hopefully.

As Hinata surged forewords, a senbon needle shot through her knee.

* * *

Seeing the mist thicken, Hayate cursed. Zabuza darted into the thick mist and vanished. Depleted of chakra though he may be, the man was a mist-nin and could hide within it easily enough without chakra. 

Hearing the sounds of shuriken flung at him, Hayate twisted and twirled his sword in a graceful dance, knocking each and every shuriken away. Twirling his sword like a windmill before him, he battered the last few aside, and whirled to face behind him, just a little too slow, to be struck in the side by Zabuza's massive cleaver.

As he was sent flying, hard, Hayate knew he had gotten lucky. With the way he twisted, the blade just barely grazed him. Had it have hit, he'd be in two pieces now.

Staggering to his feet, though winded badly, Hayate looked around for Zabuza warily. The man had, once again, vanished into the mist.

* * *

Yugao shivered as she leapt from roof to roof on her way to the Hokage tower. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach ever since Hayate had went off on the C-class mission with that team of his. It's only gotten worse since. She's barely slept this whole week, but she's still tried her hardest to seem like nothing was wrong. 

Landing on another rooftop, she blinked behind her mask at the two shinobi lounging around on beach towels in their boxer shorts. "What, prey tell, are you two doing?" She asked, pulling her mask off to eye the two men with an odd mix of exasperation and amusement.

"Sunbathing. What's it look like?" Kotetsu laughed. At one point in her life, she'd have killed to have seen the tanned man in such a state of undress. But that was long ago, before the two introduced her to Hayate, another friend of theirs. Sometimes she wondered if they'd befriended the entire village and just forgot to tell anyone.

Isumo lazily slurped his lemonade for a moment, before chuckling out, "We got the day off to recover. We did go off on a dangerous mission yesterday, and both of us have strict doctor's orders – move as little as possible and relax for the day."

"And we figured, hey, what better way than sunbathing on the roof? It's warm enough." Kotetsu grinned at her.

"In your boxers." Yugao snorted, eying Kotetsu's black cat-paw printed orange, and Izumo's bright yellow, boxers with amusement. She almost wished Izumo would roll over and show off the smiley face that decorated the back of those boxers. She can even remember when Genma gave them those – they were hanging out as his place a few years ago, when they all decided to go for a swim. Having no swim trunks, he dug out clean pairs of boxers for all three of them, and an old shirt for her. Unsurprisingly, he gave them the ugliest pairs he had to own. She was almost embarrassed that the two of them would willingly wear them. Especially in public. Her own pair - hot pink with chilli peppers - would never see the light of day again if she could help it.

Kotetsu and Izumo just smiled at her impishly and shrugged. "Care to join us?" Kotetsu laughed.

Yugao snorted, as she quickly tied her mask to her side. "No thanks, I'm off to speak to the Hokage anyway. Have fun" She smirked, taking off.

"We will!" She heard chorused behind her as she continued on. As she continued on, she nearly lost her footing as she heard a pleasured scream. At this time of the day, it was most likely Anko. She shivered, and detoured slightly to make sure she didn't pass anywhere near where the scream came from. She had no wish to see what she and Ibiki were up to.

Speeding up slightly, she prayed she would meet no further interruptions on her way to the tower. She winced in sympathy for the kids in Iruka's class as she passed the academy. Being stuck on mission tower duty again, it seems that Genma replaced Iruka for the day. Half the class looked bored out of their minds, the other half looked torn between awe and fear. Probably spat one of his senbon at someone's desk and pinned a fly to it. Show off.

Landing before the tower, Yugao walked inside. As she was motioned in to the Hokage's office, she couldn't help but jump straight to the point. "Hokage-sama, what do you know about Hayate's mission?"

He sighed. "No more than he must have told you when he left. You know it's not unusual to not get reports from teams out in the field if they're gone less than a month."

"I know. It's just- I'm worried, Hokage-sama. I have this horrible feeling…" She stammered, looking more uncertain than she would usually allow herself.

"He'll be fine, Yugao. Especially with his team. Those three will become something amazing, if enough effort is put into them. I have faith in the lot of them. Besides, it's only a C-rank." The Hokage smiled calmly. Though, in truth, she had added to the small well of uncertainty he himself felt.

"Of coarse, Hokage-sama. Sorry to disturb you." She murmured, backing for the door.

"It's quite alright Yugao. I'm glad you brought your fears to my attention." He calmly said.

As Yugao slipped from the tower, and once more took to the rooftops, this time heading home for some sleep after her patrol last night, She turned to look at where she could hear Kurenai's voice, and saw Kakashi walking with her. She rolled her eyes, and wondered what the masked wonder was up to this time. That, and where his team happened to be.

Continuing on, she had finally made it to Hayate's apartment. She always stayed at his when he was gone, just as she knew he always stayed at hers. Quickly having a shower and getting changed into an old shirt and pair of pants of Hayate's, she crawled into his bed and buried her face in his pillow. Inhaling his scent as she drifted off to sleep, she prayed that he would come back.

* * *

As the blade whistled through the air, Hayate realized he'd never make it in time. Watching with horror as the cleaver sliced towards Shino's head, he was almost as surprised as Zabuza by what happened. As the blade came down, Shino twisted so the blade was caught by a single Kunai, tilted to the side to cause the cleaver to slide off. Taking the small second provided, Shino managed to sink another Kunai into the man's side, sadly missing all the vital organs. As the cleaver swung around again, it tore through Shino, who was revealed to be nothing more than a log and some bugs. 

He and Tazuna had appeared a good distance away.

Leaping forwards to engage the swordsman again, Hayate flashed a fierce, proud grin over at the winded Shino, before concentrating on the fight once more.

* * *

As Hinata and Naruto both struggled to stand, senbon piercing them in many places, they both struggled to come up with a plan. Hinata knew, with her eyes unable to see through the mirrors, and her chakra running low, her… 'kaiten'… would be completely useless after another round or two. Considering it only blocked about 40 percent of the projectiles, and less now that she's so tired, it was nowhere near perfect. 

Likewise, Naruto realized that his strength accounted for nothing if he couldn't smack the guy again. His speed was incredible. Even without his damn mirrors, he'd beat them easily now.

They both knew their only hope was to either outsmart him… or tire him out. They had already watched the kikaichu try, and fail, to eat through the mirrors.

As they finally made it to their feet, the two looked at each other. Nodding sharply, they split apart, and both targeted different mirrors to try and destroy. If working closely together didn't work, maybe splitting up would.

As Naruto was sent flying, courtesy of Haku once more, Hinata's face went grey with horror. Haku was going in for a killing blow. As the multitude of senbon flew for the downed Naruto, all targeting areas that would kill him, Hinata didn't need to think about her reaction. She shot forwards frantically, letting loose a barrage of kunai of her own at Haku, praying that she wouldn't be too late.

Watching, almost in slow motion, as the senbon flew at her, as Haku hit the ground from the odd angle he had landed at, Hinata knew she had no strength to pull Naruto out of the way. No time to either. And no chakra for an imperfect kaiten. She watched the senbon fly. And she let them hit her.

Groaning painfully after his rough landing, Naruto forced his eyes to once more open, looking confused at the large amount of blood strewn around. Looking up, he felt his heart stop beating. "H-Hinata…?" He whispered.

She wavered where she stood, senbon sticking out from nearly everywhere but her head, and she smiled. "N-Naruto-kun…"

Naruto frantically leapt to his feet and gently brought Hinata to the ground. "W-Why…?" Naruto stammered, frankly not caring at the moment as Haku began to stand once more.

Hinata just smiled even wider, but refused to answer. As her eyes slid shut, and she stopped breathing, Naruto held her close and felt tears well up.

"She struck one blow at me… and without any sign of shirking… sacrificed herself for you!! She was a shinobi worthy of the utmost respect… who in order to protect someone she cared about, threw herself headlong into what she knew full well was a trap." Haku said calmly as he got to his feet, and once more walked to the nearest mirror. "Is this the first time a comrade of yours has died…? Such is a ninja's path." So saying, he stepped into the mirror.

"I'm never gonna forgive you for this…" Naruto growled, crouching over Hinata's body, the tears drying up as he started to shake in anger. Whatever it was that 'snapped' when he fought against the mist brothers earlier, felt like it ripped open now.

Feeling his rage reach heights he was sure it wasn't even possible to reach, Naruto thought he should be afraid he could feel such. But at the moment, he just didn't care. He didn't see it as red chakra leapt from his body and swirled around him in a fox-like shape with one massive tail. He didn't see his nails grow into claws, his whisker marks deepen, or his eyes turn red and slit like an animals. He felt the fangs grow in his mouth, however, scented the blood, the water, Hinata… Haku.

He instinctively stayed crouched on all fours over Hinata, snarling with inhuman rage up at Haku. "**_I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!_**" He roared, looking dead at the, now worried, Haku.

'_W-what chakra is this?!' _Haku fearfully thought. Watching the red chakra swirl around his opponent, he felt himself gasp in shock. Everywhere the red chakra moved, almost instantaneously, Naruto healed. _'The wounds are… healing themselves! Who- WHAT on earth is he?!' _

As the wounds finished healing themselves, Naruto turned his entire focus onto Haku as he stepped away from Hinata.

* * *

Shino, from where he was guarding Tazuna, and keeping an eye on his sensei's fight, Hayate, and Zabuza, all looked towards the ice mirrors in shock as they felt, and then saw the evil red chakra begin to seep between the cracks between the mirrors. 

Shino listened to his kikaichu's fear and willingly backed himself and Tazuna further away. Tazuna may not be able to feel the chakra, or understand what he was seeing, but he was certainly eyeing the red chakra warily, and didn't argue with Shino's backing them further away.

Hayate stared for a moment at the mirrors. _'What Naruto said snapped earlier… it must have been a part of the seal… but even from here, I can tell it's not focused on just destruction. He's after something… I hope that both he and Hinata are alright…' _Hayate stared for a moment too long, and nearly lost the upper half of his body again.

Zabuza took a moment to wonder what the hell was going on, before he snapped out of it and lunged for Hayate. He nearly cursed as the man's sharp reflexes and speed got him out of the way once again.

Both of the men were covered in slashes and bruises from non-fatal hits. They were both far too good for any easy fights.

Hayate knew he had to end this soon. He had to go and help his other students against Haku. Shifting his stance, he prayed that with being as exhausted as he was, that his most prized technique wouldn't kill him.

* * *

As the chakra continued to swirl around him, Naruto stayed crouched on all fours, like an animal, and surged straight at Haku. He didn't even care about the senbon flung at him – the red chakra threw them aside, if not outright destroyed them. 

As Haku hit the ground, and tried to leap into the next mirror, Naruto was right there. He twisted and grabbed Haku's arm, hard enough the bones started to crunch together. As the Chakra around Naruto got stronger, the mirrors began to crack.

Haku felt himself truly feel fear for the first time in his life, as Naruto reared back and slugged him in his masked face as he let go of his arm.

Haku was sent careening straight through one of his own mirrors as his mask broke. As he hit the ground and skidded back, pieces of the mask fell to the ground.

Standing there, stunned, the two main pieces of the mask started to fall as Naruto charged him once more. As both pieces dropped, Haku's only thought was for Zabuza, the fear having left his heart. He knew he was finished. Even if he somehow lived, he was of no more use to Zabuza.

As Naruto leapt for the boy, Haku didn't even notice the blood slowly dripping down from his mouth. Landing before him, Naruto reared his fist back, and let it fly. Stopping just short of Haku's face, in a deep, angry voice so unlike his own, Naruto growled, "You're the kid I met this morning…!"

As Naruto just stared angrily at him, loosing his demonic appearance and chakra, Haku asked, confused, "Why'd you stop? I murdered your comrade… your beloved friend… and you still spare me?!"

Naruto turned to look back over his shoulder at Hinata's body and whirled angrily to slug Haku across the face, sending the other boy to the ground.

As Haku coughed up blood, and then struggled to kneel, he couldn't help but ask, "All the power you had before… where is it? You can't hope to kill me with the meager force you put into that blow." Naruto saw his conversation with Haku in the forest within his mind, in the space it took Haku to continue. Wiping the blood from the side of his mouth, Haku struggled to stand. "Often people have it wrong, mistakenly believing… that showing mercy to an enemy is kindness. They spare the foe who's life is in their hands… But don't you see? It's an empty existence… to go on living… alone and unloved… when defeat's already cost you your dream!"

Naruto looked up at Haku in wary confusion. "Say what--?!"

"Zabuza-san has no use for a weak shinobi. You've taken away my reason for living!" Haku smiled painfully past the lump in his throat.

"Why… Why waste all that devotion on such a creep?! That mercenary scumbag doesn't care who he works for or who gets hurt, just so someone pays him! Is that browless bastard really precious to you – your 'beloved friend'?" Naruto yelled.

Haku looked down sadly as he explained. "Once… I was precious. I belonged… to… parents. I was born in a snowy, little village in the land of Mist. And I was happy… my parents were good, kind people. But… just as I was getting old enough to really notice the world around me… something happened."

Naruto watched him shocked. "Like what…? What happened…?"

"I was kidnapped. I don't remember much of what happened, but… after I was recovered, things… happened around me. The water would freeze… or turn to glass… And that's when it happened. I asked my father about such things… made him suspicious… and then he found out. My father killed my mother that night… and then he tried to kill me." Haku softly continued.

"Why--?" Naruto gasped.

"The land of the Mist has been the scene of generations of non-stop war. Among it's people, those who posses kekkai genkai – skills that come out of our genetic inheritance – are loathed as abominations." Haku recited painfully.

"Kekkai genkai?" Naruto questioned, horrified.

"The term refers to clans whose bloodlines give them powers… like your friend's eyes, or your other friend's bugs… Inherited skills that were exploited and twisted, used to cause horrible slaughter… until we ceased to be looked upon as warriors or even weapons, but were condemned as the harbingers of doom. After the wars were over, those who possessed this trait were hunted, only able to survive by hiding the existence of their skills and their bloodline away. Exposure meant certain death! I'm sure your friend I killed who shared that skill, must also have grown up knowing the pain of which I speak. We are special. We are powerful. And we are feared." Haku continued.

"My father believed that I had inherited a bloodline from my mother… but she knew not of it either… and before I even realized what I was about to do… my father had died… by my own hand. And then it came to me. I knew what I was. And I was forced to accept it. That was the most painful thing… Accepting that I was alone in the world. Superfluous. Unwanted. Shunned." Looking calmly, but sadly at the shocked Naruto, he knew he had to continue.

"Didn't you tell me… that you wanted to become the number one ninja in your village and make everyone respect you? If you had someone in your life who did more than that… who acknowledged your existence – even cared for you… wouldn't that person become the most important… treasured… person in your life?" Haku gasped, as Naruto's heart cried out for Iruka, and in sympathy for Haku. "Zabuza-san took me in, knowing what he did of my past. The very thing that caused my father to hate me, everyone to hate me – he didn't just overlook it. He cherished it. He wanted it!" Bursting into tears, Haku added on, "I was so happy…!!"

He remembered the day Zabuza told him they were leaving the land of mist, the day he truly realized he was a tool. "Forgive me… Zabuza-san… your tool has failed you."

As Naruto stared at him, stunned, Haku made one request. "Naruto… please… Take my life."

* * *

Twirling around and leaping in a way most shinobi who've ever fought nearby a member of the Gekkou line would recognize, he seemed to split into four copies of himself, all leaping straight at the now surrounded Zabuza. "Mikazuki no mai!"

* * *

"Please, Naruto. Kill me now." Haku asked dully. "What are you waiting for?" 

Naruto looked at him shocked, for a moment, before yelling out angrily, "What is with you? You're used to being the toughest. You don't like to lose. I get that! But wanting to die just 'cause someone beat you is crazy!!" As Haku stayed silent, Naruto continued his rant. "There's more to life than just fighting. There's more to you! Your boss must like you for more than just that… right? Doesn't he?"

Haku was silent for a moment, before speaking. "That day I met you in the forest… I remember thinking that we were two of a kind… surely you can understand… You'll have to bloody your hands. Forgive me for that."

"Is that… Is that the only way? No other outcome?" Naruto growled.

"Yes…!" Haku said calmly.

Naruto clenched his eyes shut and thought of what Haku had done to Hinata. Opening his eyes, he looked back at Hinata and grabbed a kunai. "I hope you find your dream…" Naruto said as he surged forwards.

"Thank you." Haku whispered, loud enough for Naruto to hear. _'You're going to be very strong.'_ Haku thought, watching calmly as Naruto drew closer.

Just as Naruto was about to reach him, Haku shuddered violently. Eyes going wide, Haku twisted to catch Naruto's wrist with a quick apology. "I'm sorry, Naruto! I can't die yet!!" Haku quickly let go of Naruto's wrist and vanished into the mist, his mirrors having disappeared at some point earlier to make the mist thicker.

* * *

As four Hayate's dropped from the sky straight for Zabuza, Haku appeared between the two combatants, the real Hayate and Zabuza. Clearly intending for his life to end as a living shield for Zabuza. 


	10. Demonheart

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 10: Demonheart

As the sword came down, Zabuza made his choice. He shoved Haku as hard as he could aside; with enough force it likely knocked him unconscious. The sword didn't fully miss Haku, however, opening a deep slice across his side. Zabuza didn't get away cleanly either. It took off his right arm.

As Haku hit the ground with a sickening thud and a squelch, everyone knew he had likely just suffered a mortal, or nearly mortal, wound.

* * *

Inari ran for one of the houses that looked like every other in this part of town. Knocking as hard as he could on the door, he cried out, "Mister Gi'ichi! Open up! Please!!" Yelling even louder as he got no response, Inari continued. "I need you to come with me to the bridge!!! If we stick together, this time we can beat Gato and his whole gang!" 

"I'm sorry… Inari, we're not going to fight back anymore…" A quiet voice called out from the door. "Your father… was a hero. But he's gone now. If we fight, we'll be throwing away a lot of lives. We've already sacrificed and lost so much. None of us wants anymore losses… any more regrets."

Inari bowed his head. "… I don't want anymore regrets either." Hearing the silence on the other side of the door, Inari raised his head and proudly proclaimed, "That's why… I have to fight. A man has to live his life so that he doesn't end up filled with regrets… I love my Ma, and Grandpa, and you… and everyone in the village… And I understand now… That I can't protect anyone by being a big crybaby."

Giving one last derisive look to the door, Inari turned away and ran quickly home. "Wait! You can't go to the bridge alone!" Tsunami screamed when she found out what her son was up to, as he retied his shoes, checked his pot-turned-helmet, and made sure his crossbow and quiver of bolts were ready to go.

"Have to. No one in the village was willing to go with me." Inari stated calmly, finishing with his shoe and standing up.

"But that doesn't mean…!" Tsunami yelled, as he headed for the door. "You're just a little boy!"

Inari turned and flashed a fierce grin back at his mom. "I may be little… but I know how to fight… 'Cause I'm my daddy's son."

Tsunami just stared at him shocked as he opened the door. "Inari, wait!" She cried.

Opening the door the rest of the way, Inari stepped out and froze.

* * *

Naruto whipped his attention in every direction frantically, trying to spot Haku. As the mist let up, he saw Haku bleeding a small river across the ground from where he lay, and Zabuza missing an arm. His sensei's bloody sword exclaimed where both came from. 

Both Hayate and Zabuza just stood there for a moment, taking stock of what happened.

As Shino and Tazuna were able to see through the mist again, Shino spotted Hinata's body and froze. "I'll stay with you, so you won't be disobeying orders. Let's go check on your friend." Tazuna softly informed Shino. He nodded, and they quickly made their way over. Shino requested his bugs, with their remaining strength, to check and make sure.

As Zabuza returned to trying to take on Hayate, with only his left arm, he quickly realized he was now outmatched. He still fought with everything he had, however. Twisting around, Hatate was able to remove the man's other arm, just as everyone on the bridge heard footsteps and a cold voice laugh. "I wonder how the fight's going!"

Looking up sharply at the voice, they heard the sound of a cane and footsteps draw closer as the voice continued, "Well, he's certainly made a fine mess out of you! What a pity… Zabuza!" Gato laughed coldly as everyone noticed a good many thugs behind him.

"Gato…" Zabuza rasped, fighting off the pain and dizziness loosing both arms caused. "What are you… doing here? And… why… did you… bring… all of **them**?!"

Hayate narrowed his eyes, and kept an eye on both Zabuza and Gato worriedly. He quickly chanced a look over his students, and felt his heart miss a beat at seeing Hinata laying so still with Tazuna and Shino crouched over her. Both seemed unaware of the current situation. Naruto seemed to be staring nearly transfixed at Haku.

Gato laughed, "There's been a slight change of plan, Zabuza. Or, of your plans, anyway. This was what I had in mind all along. You're going to die 'demon'… here and now."

"What?" Zabuza growled.

"You must have guessed. I never intended to pay you." Gato sneered. "…It's such a bother hiring a skilled shinobi affiliated with one of the top villages. It's expensive… and they tend to have friends who object when I betray and kill them. It's so much simpler to hire nukenin, missing-nin, _renegades_ – like yourself. No one cares what I do to your kind once the job is done. All of you ninja are so eager to fight each other. Once you've worn each other down, common thugs can finish off the rest. It's a great business plan – efficient, and inexpensive. My only mistake was hiring you in the first place. Calling yourself the demon of Kirigakure is just plain false advertising!" Gato laughed, "You're no demon! …More like a **baby** demon, if that."

The thugs behind Gato all looked rather bloodthirsty, not to mention crazy, and one yelled out, "The shape you're in, we'll take you down without even breaking a sweat!"

"Forgive me… Hayate. Our fight is over." Zabuza softly proclaimed. "I no longer have any reason to want to assassinate Tazuna… which settles our differences."

Hayate softly nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

"That reminds me…" Gato sneered, walking up to Haku's body. "I still have a score to settle. You… crushed my arm until you almost broke the bones!" So saying, he kicked Haku hard in the head as he snorted, "Dead meat. Carrion."

"**What the hell are you doing, you creep**?!" Naruto roared, turning his gaze up to Gato. He may have missed the boy's gaze turning red for a moment, but neither Hayate nor Zabuza missed it.

Seeing nobody doing anything, he whirled on Zabuza. "Hey, why don't you do something?! He worked for you! He was practically your slave!!"

"Like what? Haku is dead." Zabuza proclaimed quietly.

"But you should care! That fat scumbag is desecrating him!! He was your comrade… your partner… he worked for you for years!!" Naruto yelled.

"…Gato's been using me… and I used Haku. Weren't you listening? It's a shinobi's lot. All of us are either users, or tools… or both. I didn't value Haku for himself… but for the strength he wielded… and for what his talents could do for me. I apologize for nothing."

"Do you really mean that?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Who is that obnoxious brat? ...He's been making quite a nuisance of himself!" Gato sneered.

Naruto stormed forwards so he was nearly level with Zabuza and pointed fiercely at Haku. "He… He really cared about you!! He was devoted to you!! But you think that's just nothing, that he was nothing? You don't feel a thing! Are you really that heartless? He gave his life for you!!" Naruto screamed, bursting into tears. "Is that how you get… when your powers are as strong as yours are?"

As Naruto was about to continue his tirade, Zabuza cut in. "Kid." His voice sounded a little raspy. "Not… another word" Zabuza said painfully as he turned to look at Naruto. Naruto was stunned. Zabuza had tears slipping from his eyes.

After a second or two of silence to pull himself back together, Zabuza continued. "Kid… What Haku did… was not just for me. While we fought, he broke his heart… over you… and your friends. That's the truth. He was too kind… too gentle. I'm glad my last battle… was against you… boy." As Naruto gave a small noise of confusion, Zabuza added, "You're right, you know. Say what we will, do what we will. In the end, we shinobi are still just people after all… with all too human feelings. And I've lost… everything."

Naruto stared at him, stunned. "I have two requests, boy." Zabuza questioned. "What's your name? And… would you lend me your kunai?"

Naruto swallowed thickly. "It's Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He stammered, as he grabbed his kunai. "And… sure." As he tossed the knife over.

At some point, Zabuza had torn the bandages over his mouth away with his teeth, and he caught the handle of the kunai in his teeth now. He shot forwards, straight at Gato, who let loose with a yelp of, "What?! That's enough! What are you waiting for? Kill all of them!"

As the thugs prepared to kill the charging ninja, Gato hid behind the lot of them. Somehow, armed with only a kunai knife held between his teeth, he was able to blow through thug, after thug, never stopping, even when swords, knives, sickles, and even an axe, were embedded into him somewhere. He charged, unending, straight for Gato.

Finally getting in close enough, Zabuza twisted, and sank the kunai into the man's neck. "Why won't you die?!" Gato screamed fearfully. "I-if you're in such a hurry… to be reunited with your little friend… go alone!"

"I… have no intention… of going to the same place… as Haku." Zabuza laughed softly, and coldly.

"Wh-what are you babbling about?" Gato chocked.

Zabuza snorted loudly. "I'm taking you with me… to **HELL**!!" Twisting around, he drew the kunai through Gato's neck, removing his head from his shoulders. As he stood there, weapons sticking out of him, blood covering him, and both arms missing… He truly did appear to be a demon to the low-class thugs Gato hired.

As they backed away from him, Zabuza let the kunai drop. He stumbled, and coughed up blood, as he saw Haku's smiling face in his mind once more. _'It's… goodbye now, Haku… Thanks for everything… And I'm sorry…'_

"Don't look away." Hayate softly informed the tearful Naruto. "He lived his life full-out. The least we can do is show him the proper respect."

Naruto sniffed. "Yeah…"

A ways away, Shino sat back, calling out to Hayate that Hinata was still alive. "Haku must have used the same trick on her he pulled on Zabuza."

Hayate swiftly called back, "Don't try to remove the senbon, you may accidently kill her. She'll be fine for now, I'll help her when I can." He was watching the rapidly angering thugs warily.

Naruto burst into a relieved smile through his tears as he heard this.

Naruto turned his tearful gaze on Haku's body, and gasped as he realized Haku's eyes were fluttering weakly. "Haku…?" He gasped.

Haku had woken up just before Naruto started to yell at Zabuza, he had heard everything, and he knew Zabuza was now dead. He almost wanted to give up the fight… but hearing Naruto's hopeful gasp made him start to think. "N-Naruto… Any… h-hope your v-village… has n-need of… o-one m-more?" He gasped out painfully.

"Yes! Please Haku! Stay alive! C'mon!" Naruto yelped, catching startled attention from Hayate, before he turned his gaze back on the angry thugs as they started to yell obscenities and insults as they readied their weapons.

Naruto made his choice, and slid Haku's head into his lap as the boy slipped back into unconsciousness. Haku would be fine. He said so.

As the thugs started to charge, a crossbow bolt appeared out of nowhere and stopped their hopeful charge. Turning to look, Naruto smiled proudly at seeing Inari, crossbow in hand, standing before what must have been nearly the while town.

"Inari… all of you…" Tazuna breathed, completely overwhelmed.

"Inari!!" Naruto cried out happily.

Inari burst into an impish grin, rather similar to Naruto's foxy grin, in fact. "It's being a hero, you know? All that nick of time stuff!"

Naruto grinned, and swiftly placed his hands into the proper sign for his signature move, carefully not jostling Haku, Naruto summoned ten clones to stand between the thugs and himself, as he was still cradling Haku. Watching the thugs cringe gave both Hayate and Shino an idea. Too exhausted to make anything solid, Hayate made illusions of himself that appeared real at least, and Shino made a few clones using his bugs and chakra.

Watching the thugs squirm for a moment was interesting. Watching them turn tail and run, screaming, "Run away!!" Was even more so.

As the thugs vanished, Hayate swiftly headed over to Hinata to help her. Naruto gently picked up the, once again conscious Haku, and brought him over to Zabuza as he asked.

"You're alive…?" Zabuza choked.

Naruto just nodded and said a soft yea, because Haku didn't seem to have the energy to talk anymore. As he sat down at Zabuza's side, the dying man croaked out, "Haku… Stay with him. Help him... achieve his dream… whatever it may be…"

Haku burst into tears along with Naruto, but the blond nodded as he noticed Haku trying to. "Okay." Haku managed to whimper out.

"Look after him… Naruto-san." Zabuza breathed out as he died, "And look out for him as well, Haku."

Naruto burst into tears as he heard Hinata wake up as if from a distance. Haku was crying pitifully in his arms as well.

* * *

Two weeks later, Naruto and a still weakened Haku headed up to the grassy hill within the trees where they had buried Zabuza with most of the village's help. They somehow even sunk his sword deep into the earth behind his wooden grave marker. 

Haku had flowers in his hands to place upon Zabuza's grave, and Naruto was making a grand gesture, for him anyway, of a food offering. After learning a bit more about Naruto and his past, Haku knew that it was nearly a crime in the blonde's book to give food up for anything other than to be eaten.

As they stood there, standing before Zabuza's grave, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Hey Haku…? Is what he said, about ninja, true? Are we supposed to just be tools?"

Haku hesitated slightly. "As far as I know, yes, Naruto-kun, we are only to be used as tools."

Naruto scowled. "Is that really what becoming a full-fledged ninja's all about? I don't like the sound of it!"

Haku looked over at him in shock. Surely he didn't mean becoming a nukenin…!

"That's it. I've made up my mind!" Naruto proclaimed, catching Haku's fearful attention. "I am going to create my own nindo – my own ninja path. My own destiny! I'm gonna become the next Hokage! And I'm gonna do it my own way!"

Haku looked at him in shock, for a moment, before breaking into a soft smile. "I believe you can, Naruto-kun." Naruto looked at him in shock. "Any hope that dream of yours has place for your own, personal, medic-nin?"

Naruto burst into a beaming smile. "Sure! Lord knows, the ones back home would let me die!" Naruto laughed, turning and heading back down the hill, to let Haku finish saying goodbye in peace.

_'They'd let him die?' _Haku thought in horror. _'I had heard Konoha was the kindest of the villages… what did Naruto do to cause this…?'_ Thinking back to their fight, he shivered as he remembered the red chakra. _'Maybe a __kekkei __genkai__?'_

Standing there in silence for another few moments, Haku softly proclaimed, "I'm glad I met him, Zabuza-san. I'll miss you, so much…! But… I'm glad to have him as well."

Looking up into the canopy of leaves, Haku pulled his hair pins out and let his hair flow free. Placing the pins in the ground on either side of the marker, Haku smiled. One chapter of his life was now over. He had a felling, however, that the next would be far more difficult. He just hoped that all that Zabuza-san had taught him would be enough for him to aid Naruto with.

* * *

As team eight, plus one, stood at the entrance to the bridge that they aided in the creation of, ready to head home, Tazuna, Tsunami, Gi'ichi, and Inari stood opposite them, between them and the village. 

"Thanks to you, our bridge has finally been completed, but… It's going to be awfully dull around here, once you're gone." Tazuna smiled.

"We've enjoyed your hospitality." Hayate said respectfully.

"No problem, Tazuna! We'll come back and see ya again sometime, alright?" Naruto grinned. Hinata smiled from beside Shino to one side of Naruto, and Haku smiled softly on the other.

"You better…" Inari sniffled, shaking.

Naruto started to quiver as well, and laughed shakily, "Inari… don't let it get you down. It's okay to cry, if you really want!"

"I'm not gonna cry!! B-but Naruto… Hey 'big brother'… y-you can cry! Go ahead!" Inari yelled.

"Me? No way. See you." Naruto stated, whirling around to start to head home. The adults shared amused expressions as Hinata and Haku giggled. Both boys had tears streaming down their faces. Shino just nodded to the assembled group, then followed after Naruto like the others were doing.

As they were walking, the sounds of Naruto enthusiastically explaining Konoha to Haku drifted back, along with Hayate's laughter and Hinata's giggles.

Tazuna just smiled as he and his family stood, almost at attention, as they watched the group be the first to walk the completed bridge home. "That boy touched little Inari's heart… And Inari touched the hearts of all the people in our city… Naruto built the bridge that eventually carried us all to hope and courage!"

Inari was still bawling his eyes out as silently as he could manage, as his mom pitched in, "And speaking of bridges, we still have to officially dedicate this one."

Tazuna grinned , "And there's only one name that will truly fit."

"What are we gonna call it?" Gi'ichi questioned.

"How about… The Great Naruto Bridge?" Tazuna grinned.

Tsunami laughed happily, "It's a nice name, dad."

"Are you really sure? Calling it that…?!" Gi'ichi asked.

Tazuna laughed. "Quite sure. You see, I hope that in giving it that name, we'll ensure that it will stand forever… Our bridge will become super-famous the world over, as a symbol of triumph and endurance! That's what I hope… and hopefully, that's how it'll be."

* * *

While walking on the bridge on the way home, Naruto continued to explain what Konoha looked like, felt like, sounded like, and even smelled like to the amusement of Haku. He was told of the weapons store Hayate had shown him to, Ichiraku, and the ones who worked there, he was told of Iruka, the rookies, of Naruto's teammates who were listening in faint embarrassment, of Hayate who was sporting a pretty good blush from all Naruto's praises, of the Third Hokage, of Konohamaru, the Hokage monument, even warned about that damned cat Tora. 

Haku was actually feeling excited at the prospect of living within a village that could make Naruto act like this. He was really looking forwards to meeting this Iruka. He missed Zabuza terribly, and wished with all his heart that the man was here with him, but he knew Zabuza would want him to be happy – he had nearly said as much before he died.

Haku was just itching to ask why Naruto seemed to believe that the villagers hated him, but didn't wish to bring Naruto's good mood down. He decided he'd ask later, maybe after seeing for himself.

"You realize the Hokage can't just let you become a ninja of Konoha, yes Haku?" Hayate asked.

"Hai Hayate-san. I do. I'll need to be on probation for a time, yes?" Haku smiled.

Hayate was slightly taken aback, but nodded. "I'm not sure where you'll stay yet either. You'll need to stay with someone while you're on probation at least, any requests? Naruto's nearly explained the whole village." Hayate grinned.

Haku laughed softly as Naruto blushed. "I'd like to stay with Naruto-kun if that's alright, Hayate-san."

"We can certainly ask." Hayate smiled back.

* * *

Back in Konoha, Yugao awoke from a sound sleep with a smile. Getting up and ready for the day, she was forced to stifle a shriek as she turned around, naked, in the shower, to see a smirking Kotetsu in the window. She snarled and lobbed a kunai at his head yelling, "I don't care what you and Izumo get up to on your own, but spying on me results in loss of body parts!" 

Kotetsu laughed and ducked the kunai, grinning, "And here I thought you'd want to know that Hayate and his team will be at the village gates in ten minutes."

Yugao paused halfway towards reaching for the next kunai. "Thought so!" Kotetsu chirped, darting away from her apartment as fast as he could.

Yugao swiftly finished her shower, got dressed, and flew out the door. She made it to the gates just as they were opening to admit Hayate and his team. "Hayate!" She squealed, launching at him.

He 'oomphed', as he hit the ground after her pounce as he team burst into giggles. "Umm… guys, meet my girlfriend Yugao." He grinned over sheepishly, trying to speak around a mouthful of purple hair.

She blushed, and quickly sprung back off of him, offering him a hand up. She could tell he was a little worried by her reaction, but she'd explain later. She turned a smile on his team, which turned into a frown over Haku, and then a downright glare on Naruto.

Haku gave a small start at seeing the cold glare, especially as all Naruto did was flinch and look away. Hinata and Shino, too, gave the woman wary looks. Haku decided to say what it seemed the younger members of the team all thought. "I don't think we like your girlfriend very much, Hayate-san. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't let her treat Naruto in such a way."

Hayate sighed, and eyed the glaring Yugao warily. "Guys, start heading for the Hokage's tower, I'll be with you in a minute.

Naruto eyed him sadly for a moment, before nodding and heading towards the tower, Haku, Hinata, and Shino trailing him.

Arriving, Naruto asked the guard if they may speak to the Hokage. They were asked to wait, as he was speaking with someone else right now. They nodded, and headed to the waiting area.

Haku was trying to figure out why the whole village seemed against Naruto, but being as his teammates looked as confused as him, he figured Naruto wouldn't tell him. After about five minutes, the door to the Hokage's office opened, and someone wandered out. The Hokage happily called for Naruto and his team to enter.

"Yo old man!" Naruto laughed.

"Hello Naruto. Mind telling me who your friend is?" Sarutobi smiled.

Haku stepped forwards before anyone else could try and sugarcoat the truth. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama. My name is Haku. I worked for Zabuza-san, the 'demon of the mist'."

Sarutobi's eyebrows flew up to his hairline. "And you're here because…?"

Haku smiled softly. "Because Naruto taught Zabuza-san and myself an important lesson. And Zabuza-san's last wish was for us to stay together. I wish to stay with him as well, Hokage-sama. Whenever you'll allow me, I'd like to undergo training to become a medic-nin."

Sarutobi mulled this over for a few moments. He didn't miss the look Haku was giving him and Naruto; that he'd sooner die than leave Naruto's side. That may eventually pose a problem, but for now, maybe it will do Naruto good to have someone to look after him for a while.

"Very well, Haku. For your probation period of one month," Haku looked rather surprised at the small amount as Sarutobi continued, "You will live with Naruto. You will stay during the day with Iruka, whether he's teaching at the academy or in the mission tower, and afterwards at the hospital with an on-duty medic. Do you accept?"

Haku swiftly nodded. He'd be stupid not to. That was far better than he'd ever hoped.

A moment later, a slightly depressed looking Hayate leapt through the window to join them for the mission report.

Once done, Naruto showed Haku to the academy and introduced him to Iruka. They got along nearly instantly. Iruka took them both out for Ramen before Naruto brought Haku back to his place.

"Erm… It's kinda messy… And I don't have much… But you can have my room Haku. I'll take the sofa." Naruto said softly in embarrassment.

Haku looked around in confusion. On a ninja's pay, even a genin's, he should be able to afford more than this… and what about parents? For all of his kindness, all of his loyalty, all of his determination… Naruto seemed to be suffering under the weight of a dark secret. What it may be, he had no idea. The kekkei genkai families in Konoha seemed revered.

"No Naruto. It's your house, your room, you stay there. I'm the one that's on probation anyway. And I'll help you clean up a bit." Haku smiled.

Naruto smiled shyly back.


	11. Revelations

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 11: Revelations

Hayate got dressed and slipped out of his apartment with barely a sound. That was definitely a perk to dating an ANBU – sooner or later, you learned how to be very quiet. This was something he didn't want Yugao to know about. Not yet, anyway.

Arriving on a very familiar rooftop, he paused and strained his ears, hoping that he wouldn't be interrupting anything. Hearing nothing, he knew they must be asleep, and silently apologized. Twisting around, and stifling the coughs that have grown rather powerful since the fight on the bridge, he landed lightly on his old friends' windowsill and knocked.

"Wha…?" Izumo groggily asked, turning to look in confusion at the window. Kotetsu rolled out of bed and fell back asleep sprawled on the floor.

Seeing Hayate crouched on the window, Izumo groggily cursed, slipped out of bed, slipped on a pair of boxers, and let him in. "This had better" He yawned, "be damn important".

Hayate chuckled and slid into the room, stepping over Kotetsu, and grabbed what was likely one of their shirts from yesterday to throw over his old friend. "It is Izu. I've got a favor to ask of you and Ko for today."

Izumo sighed. "What is it?"

Hayate fidgeted for a moment, but explained, "I've got another appointment today," He watched Izumo wince and knew his friend would do anything for him now. How he hated his illness! "I was hoping you two would look after my team for the day. I'll clear it with the Hokage after I leave here, but they need to learn jutsus now, I've given them leaf-spinning, tree-climbing, and water-walking. Naruto's control still needs a lot of work, but I think it's time I start getting them some offensive training."

Izumo hesitated. On one hand, neither he nor Kotetsu were very fond of brats. On the other, one was Naruto, and it was Hayate asking. Izumo sighed. "Alright. On one condition. If we like the brats, we'll help you train them in ninjutsu. If we don't, we don't want to hear of this again. Agreed?"

Hayate smiled. "Agreed. Thanks."

"No problem." Izumo smiled sadly, as his friend took off from their window for the Hokage tower.

* * *

Hayate had come and gone nearly a half hour before the Hokage called Haku into his office. "How has your stay with Naruto been so far, Haku?" 

Haku smiled softly, back into wearing the type of clothing he had when he met Naruto out in the forest. A kimono top and shorts underneath, and the ribbon around his neck, his hair loose, and his weapons now worn, some visible, some not. "Naruto-kun is very sweet, but I was wondering, Hokage-sama… why does everyone seem to hate him? Why is he so poor? He's the kindest person I've ever met, and quite a good ninja too!"

The Hokage hesitated, and then sighed. "I'm sorry Haku, that is an S-class secret of the village. It's punishable by death for any save myself or Naruto to speak of it. Be comforted by the fact that it was nothing Naruto has done… he should actually be viewed as a hero. But the villagers are too close-minded to see that."

Haku swallowed, and looked down. "Alright, Hokage-sama. I will wait and hope he tells me."

"Good. Haku, no-one under about 20 or so knows either. That was also a part of the decree – to protect Naruto from the hatred of those his own age as best as I could." The Hokage said softly.

Haku nodded in acceptance. "Was there anything else, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes there was, actually. I was going to be taking a check of the hospital in a little bit, and wished to know if you would like to accompany me?" The Hokage asked.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Haku smiled.

* * *

Team eight had been sitting in their clearing for about ten minutes longer than it usually took for Hayate to arrive, when they heard someone growl, "This had better be the damn clearing this time! Next time Hayate decides to rope us into covering for him, he'd better tell us WHERE to meet them!" 

Team eight almost simultaneously burst into laughter. "I think we found them." A softer voice laughed gently before walking into the clearing. The first one visible had brown hair covering his right eye, and smiled gently at the lot of them. The one following him had wild black hair and bandages around his jaw and over his nose.

"My name's Izumo, and the barbarian behind me is Kotetsu," Izumo grinned, speaking over his partner's indignant yelp. "We're friends of Hayate. He had another appointment today and asked us to train you instead."

Izumo was quite aware that Naruto was eying him curiously and almost smiled. So, the kid did remember him. At least, in part.

"Today, you brats'll learn some ninjutsu. What d'ya say to that!" Kotetsu grinned. He only grinned wider as Naruto let out a whoop. Hinata smiled, and the Aburame kid seemed as creepy to him as ever.

"Alright. Izumo over there's better at the defensive stuff and genjutsu, Hinata, Shino, you'll be learnin' from him today. I'm more the ass-kicker type, so Naruto, you're with me. Alright?" Kotetsu smirked.

Naruto was almost immediately at his heels, and Hinata and Shino walked over to Izumo. Izumo took his two charges for the day to another clearing nearby, and Kotetsu smirked even wider at the blonde before him.

"Alright kid, today, you'll learn two jutsus. Master 'em on your own time, but I'll be makin' sure you got what it takes. You'll learn the ever-useful _Shunshin__ no __Jutsu_, and the _Katon: __Gōkakyū__ no __Jutsu_ Both are useful, the second one can be destructive. Your teammates will also be learning the shunshin, and whatever defensive jutsu Izu decides for 'em. I think you'd like the fireball." Kotetsu grinned, as Naruto gave him the biggest smile he's ever seen.

"Alright. For the shunshin, it's kinda like a full-body version of the water-walk, only through air instead…"

* * *

Hayate looked over at the door past Yugao to see the Third and Haku awaiting entrance to his hospital room. "Come in." He called. 

"How are you feeling, Hayate?" The third asked softly.

"Pretty good." Hayate said softly.

"May I explain your illness to Haku? He is interested in being a medic, it's likely he'll learn of it soon anyway." The third questioned.

" Alright. You can tell him. Please, Haku, don't tell my team. I don't want them to worry, alright?" Hayate asked, giving the third the permission he sought.

"What? Why? They really should know!" Haku gasped out, shocked.

"And they will… sooner or later. I just wish to be the one to tell them, alright?" Hayate sighed.

Haku hesitated, and then stammered, "Alright. But, if anything happens to you before they find out, so help me, I'll…!"

Hayate softly laughed and pulled Yugao back to her seat with a slight tug at her wrist. "Fair enough."

The Hokage sighed as Yugao just sat beside Hayate, watching the two of them like a hawk. "Hayate's very sick Haku. He always has been. The Gekkou line is host to a horrible genetic disease that crops up once every few generations. It doesn't really have a name, but due to the events of the last Gekkou that suffered it, it's been nicknamed _kareha __furei_ – dead leaf sickness – for the sole reason that everyone who gets it dies. That, or someone else must die."

"You see, the life expectancy is from 20 to 25 years. Hayate's 23. There are four main stages to the illness, with the fourth being death." The Hokage paused to give a sad look to the man on the bed. "The first stage is from birth, coughing, low immunity, exhaustion. The second stage kicks in around 16 years old, pretty much the same as stage 1, just worse. Stage three… he'll likely have to give up being a ninja. That'll likely happen within a year's time or two. He'll start coughing up blood, have difficulty breathing…"

Haku was silent for a moment, his heart breaking for Naruto. One of his precious people was likely to die from something that couldn't be fought. "Is there no treatment?"

The Hokage sighed. "Nothing we aren't already doing. The chakra treatments unleashed into his lungs to clear the blockages and scar tissue, antibiotics… That's about it. There is a cure, but… the price is far too steep, and it's only been successfully performed once. That cure is what made the Gekkou line fall out of Konoha's favor."

"What cure…?" Haku questioned hopefully.

The Hokage hesitated. Hayate had already heard all this, as had Yugao, so he continued. "Back during the time of the first and second Hokage, another Gekkou suffered the same illness. His name was Nekura Gekkou. And he was the best friend of the first Hokage. He was his right hand man. Anything the First asked of him, he did without complaint. And thus, when his illness started to take his life, the First rounded up every medic and powerful chakra-wielder in the village to perform the only cure they had yet found. What they had called the _sutemi __ikasu_ – 'at the risk of one's life, revive!'."

"The way it works is that there are three main components, all situated around the affected's bed, with the switchers lined up around the walls. The three components are the 'battery' – one with immense reserves of chakra, the 'stabilizer' – the one who will ensure the patient stays alive through the procedure, and the 'medic' – the one who cannot be switched out during the proceedings. The medic will direct and use all the chakra from the batteries." The Hokage sighed.

"Over 5 'stabilizers', and 36 'batteries' as well as the 'medic' – died the last time. Including the First Hokage, who offered up his life as the last battery, when he realized they were still short of chakra. For the high cost of life required, any Gekkou who so much as even thinks of asking for that technique, is labeled a traitor and run out of the village. Their line is both revered for their swordsmanship, and hated for the death of the First Hokage, being unwittingly on their hands." Sarutobi explained sadly.

"For you see, when Nekura woke up to discover that his friend had given his life for him, he was inconsolable, he was even worse when he discovered the death toll. He forbid any of his line from ever seeking to have the same done for them. The only thing that kept him going was becoming the personal shield and warrior of the Second Hokage." The third softly finished. "That boy would never have asked for that technique to be used on him – the First had ordered it while he slept."

Haku stared in shock between the three in the room, and silently vowed to work on figuring out a safer plan. He wouldn't let this man die, not without a fight on his part, at least. As the Third got up to leave, Hayate requested that Haku stay for a moment.

"On a lighter note, I need you to help me with something Haku." Hayate explained, gently grasping Yugao's wrists to hopefully keep her there. He saw her give him a wary look out of the corner of his eye, but she didn't try and break free yet.

"What do you need my help with, Hayate-sensei?" Haku softly asked, placing the memories of Hayate's illness to the side in his mind. Every spare moment he had would go towards figuring that out.

"Yugao, just sit and listen please. For however long it takes, Haku and I will be trying to make you understand Naruto a little better." Hayate said firmly. Yugao slumped into her chair. She knew that tone of voice. That's the tone he uses when not even death itself can sway his decision.

Haku grinned, and happily started to explain, singing Naruto's praises discretely as he went as well. Hayate added everything he could think of as well. They were all rather surprised to discover that by the time they ran out of things to say, it was already dark out. Yugao seemed to be actually thinking things through as well.

* * *

Looking up in the clearing, team eight were only half surprised to see Kotetsu and Izumo trailing Hayate-sensei into the clearing. "Alright everyone. Change of plans." Hayate said calmly. "Keep working on what you were taught yesterday on your own time, today, Hinata, Shino, you two will train with Kotetsu and Izumo today. Naruto, you'll be learning swordsmanship with me again. We'll switch every day, so taijutsu and kenjutsu with me, and ninjutsu and genjutsu with Ko and Izu. Weekends, we'll work as a team. Alright?" 

Smiling at the answering nods, they split up again and went to work. The first thing Izumo taught each of them when landed under his care was how to dispel genjutsu. He taught them this with an almost malicious smirk that none of them could figure out. When asked, Hayate nearly collapsed laughing, and refused to answer.

* * *

Hayate grinned as Naruto unsheathed his sword rather fluently. "Not bad, you're almost getting to the point where I'll actually let you use that in a fight." 

Naruto grinned at hearing this, and slid into the stance he had been shown the last time they did this.

For the next three weeks, this schedule continued. Naruto learnt sword fighting from Hayate and offensive, with some supplementary, jutsus from Kotetsu. He quickly developed a few ways to use his shadow clones and the shunshin in rather dangerous combos. Izumo pitched in with a few defensive ninjutsu to add to his selection, as Naruto was discovered to be nearly useless with genjutsu. They decided to come back to that later. He was, however, the best of the three at disrupting genjutsu.

"Naruto, today, I think you're ready. You may now use your sword in combat as you see fit." Hayate smiled.

Naruto looked at his sensei in shock for a moment, before letting out a whoop and leaping at the startled man. Hugging his laughing teacher as gleefully as he hugged Iruka when he graduated, he knew now that he would never let anyone harm either of them.

Kotetsu and Izumo both laughed at the grin on their friend's face as he hugged his energetic student back. "Yo kiddo, how's about you come over with Hayate for dinner tonight? We've been meaning to invite you over sometime, now seems like a good time!" Kotetsu laughed.

As he let go of his sensei and hit the ground, Naruto turned to look at the two of them in amazement. It was sad how amazed he became over some thing so simple.

"Alright." Naruto grinned shyly at them.

Hayate grinned. "Meet me in front of the Hokage monument at six then, and we'll head over together."

Naruto quickly nodded, as he didn't know where the two lived. "Okay!"

He quickly headed over to where Hinata and Shino were waiting for him. They were going to swing by the academy and grab Haku to hang out for the rest of the day. Landing at the academy, Naruto grinned cheekily at Iruka's annoyed look, before laughing as Haku was told playfully to scram. Iruka could handle the essays on his own. Being as the academy let out at three and it was four now, they considered themselves lucky that Iruka and Haku were even still there.

Haku had been disgusted with the looks Naruto had gotten whenever he showed up at the hospital to pick Haku up and escort him home. He prayed the Hokage was exaggerating how much the rest of the village hated him.

Heading outside, Haku felt his stomach slowly churning in knots at seeing the way the villagers were looking at Naruto. Now he knew why Naruto preferred the roofs. Oh, how he wished he were no longer on probation so he could have… 'words'… with these people…

As Naruto led their group up onto the top of the Hokage monument to look out over the village, Haku started to breathe easier. This far up the mountain, they shouldn't run into any civilians, just ninja, so Naruto should be safe from the looks.

Arriving atop the Fourth's head, Haku looked over at the person already atop the monument. It was clearly a ninja… a young woman if Haku wasn't mistaken. Calling out a polite hello, Haku followed the other three to the spot they had already laid claim to.

The young woman looked over with a polite smile to Haku and then glared when she caught sight of Naruto, as bad as, or worse than the villagers had. Haku felt his patience snap. "What is it with you people and Naruto-kun?!" Haku asked angrily.

The woman sneered, "What's it to you? The Demon Brat deserves to die!"

Haku felt his stomach lurch. He quickly reached for his senbon, and began to throw them when a powerful hand gripped his wrist. "Careful. You're still on probation." A deep voice stated, letting go of Haku's wrist.

Just as the woman started to smile, and Haku to seethe, the man, shouded in shadow, appeared behind the woman and grabbed her in a fierce hold. "And you know better than to break the Hokage's law." The voice growled from the man.

Naruto, Hinata and Shino had been watching Haku with amazement, until the new guy showed up. "Who are you?" Naruto asked curiously.

"The one in charge of… 'dealing'… with those who break that law." The voice chuckled. A moment later, the large man and the woman were gone.

Haku just blinked for a moment, before taking his place with the other three. "Must have been ANBU." Haku noted. His stomach still felt unsettled after the woman's comment, however.

"Haku… you didn't have to-" Naruto breathed.

"Yes Naruto, I did. I can't believe that woman would call you a demon brat." Haku growled.

"She's not the only one. Most of the village does." Naruto said softly.

Haku quickly had to excuse himself. Returning a few moments later, a little paler and slightly green, he assured them he was alright.

"H-Haku, you w-were very brave." Hinata softly assured him with a smile. He was already almost like an older brother to her. Even if he's sometimes teased of being more of an older sister.

Haku just flashed her a weak smile. "No. Naruto's brave for taking that kind of treatment so often."

Shino nodded as Naruto blushed. "He's right." Shino stated. "Remember you've got a friend in my parents and I."

Naruto nodded, amazed. "Okay." He breathed.

After a few minutes of silence, they got to talking of how they've all been. Haku had been being worked into the ground either with Iruka while the academy was in session or the hospital after. Naruto was getting really good with his sword and happily informed Haku of his 'graduation from Hayate's beginner training' so he could use it now. All three spoke of the jutsu's that Kotetsu and Izumo have been teaching them. Haku smiled and offered to pass on some of the jutsus from Kiri he'd learned from Zabuza.

After, Naruto decided to regale them with an edited version of his graduation from the academy. He cut out all the reasons as to why Mizuki was after him, but other than that, he didn't mince his words. He also, along with Hinata and Shino, caught Haku up on most of what they had done since graduation.

Haku spoke to them of his own training. He never went to the Kiri academy – he was simply trained by Zabuza, who at that time had been in ANBU, thus how he knew so much medical jutsu and ANBU techniques.

The two hours since they grabbed Haku nearly flew by, and all too soon, Naruto made his way down to meet up with Hayate for their dinner at Kotetsu and Izumo's.

Landing beside Hayate, he watched as Shino and Hinata escorted Haku back to his place. "All ready?" Hayate smiled after the three had vanished.

"Yup!" Naruto laughed. "Any hope for ramen?"

Hayte gave a playful horrified look. "Trying to claim ramen is better than Izumo's cooking? My word, you have a lot to learn!"

Naruto burst into laughter. "Seriously, the man's an amazing cook. We should introduce Hinata's cooking to him; he'll probably claim her as his apprentice." Hayate laughed.

"Oh yea, they never tried Hinata's cooking did they?" Naruto mused. "They always brought their own food."

Arriving at their apartment, Hayate knocked and smirked as the door nearly flew open to show the enthusiastic Kotetsu on the other side. Escorting them to the table by trying to play butler, which had Naruto nearly in stitches he was laughing so hard, Kotetsu proudly sat the blonde down by pulling his chair out for him and grinning. "The king of pranks had finally decided to grace us with his presence."

"King of pranks?" Naruto curiously asked. Hayate just dropped his head to the table and started praying for Izumo to hurry up and join them.

"Yup. Dangling from the Hokage monument as you painted 'em up man… that was beautiful!" Kotetsu laughed. "I'd have said somethin' sooner, but I was demanded to at least try and act responsible while outside the house."

Naruto beamed from ear to ear as Kotetsu suffered a slap upside the head and a reprimand to, "Play nice," from the grinning Izumo.

Settling down to eat, the nagging feeling that Naruto knew Izumo from some point before, returned with a vengeance. He just couldn't peg where. When Izumo brought out desert, Naruto couldn't help but ask once the man sat down, "I know you from before you started training us. Don't I…?"

Izumo paused with his fork halfway to his mouth as Kotetsu grinned. "Ya you do kid. Izumo here says he smacked a chuunin around on your behalf back when you'd have been around six or so. 'Course, we were likely only Genin at the time, so it was likely pretty impressive…!"

Izumo blushed as Naruto turned a confused look on him. A moment later, you could almost see the light bulb go off as Naruto started to grin. "I remember that! You gave me Kuma-chan!"

"Kuma-chan?" Kotetsu smirked.

Izumo blushed and sank slightly down in his seat. "Yea. Kuma-chan. Mom gave me that bear, and I had it with me after taking it to be fixed that day. I gave her to Naruto."

Naruto looked at him in amazement. He had known the bear was used, he didn't know it had been special to someone else before he got it. "I looked after her you know!" Naruto grinned gleefully, ignoring Hayate and Kotetsu's laughter. "She's still in one piece at my place!"

Kotetsu took that moment to fall off his chair laughing, as Hayate took the slightly more dignified route of dying of giggles into his arms on the table. Izumo just grinned slightly, blushing bright red. "Good to know. But she's yours Naruto."

Naruto grinned back.

* * *

Saying his joyful goodbyes, Naruto headed back home. He made sure to remember where their apartment was incase he ever needed to find them on his own. 

Arriving back at his place, still grinning wildly, he saw Haku laying on the couch, waiting for him. Haku leapt to his feet and wrapped his arms around the startled Naruto, crying quietly. "Haku…?" Naruto questioned worriedly.

"How can you put up with how they treat you, Naruto-kun! How…?" He sobbed, holding his shorter blonde friend close.

"Erm… It's alright Haku. Really." Naruto stammered, patting his friend's back. "I've got people who care, and that's good enough. Really, I'm fine. I-I can't tell you why yet, I'm not r-ready to try and explain that to anyone, but it's alright. Really."

Haku's sobs started to slow down. How Naruto could say it was fine was beyond him. He had only had to live with this kind of treatment for a few short years before Zabuza-san saved him. Naruto's been living like this his whole life. "It's not alright Naruto. But I'm going to try and help make it better." He vowed, pulling back to wipe his tears sheepishly. He thought he forgot how to cry, until Zabuza-san died.

Naruto shyly blushed. "Erm… That's alright Haku. Really."

Haku rolled his eyes and smiled softly. "You would say that, wouldn't you."

As Naruto headed off to bed, Haku settled back down on the couch and reached beneath for the notebook he had purchased earlier. He would figure out how to save Hayate's life if it killed him. And so far, he thinks it just might.


	12. Foreign Visitors

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 12: Foreign Visitors

Naruto woke up that day with a yawn, wondering fuzzily why he was just waking up at eight that morning. Wouldn't he be late to training…? He remembered just as he was rolling out of bed that the team had been given the morning off. They were supposed to meet up at noon today. Something about the Hokage wanting to speak with everyone above genin level at some point that morning.

Getting showered and dressed, Naruto bounced into the kitchen with a grin after realizing that, once again, the older boy had breakfast waiting for him. "Thanks Haku!" Naruto chirped, gleefully, as he leapt into his seat and started to dig in.

Haku grinned at the enthusiasm Naruto showed even when eating his food and laughed. "No problem."

"Hey Haku, as your probation ended yesterday, you wanna hang out with me again? Or you in a big rush to explore on your own?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Haku smiled. "With you sounds good."

Naruto grinned. Once they were finished eating, and armed, they headed into the village. They were only a little ways in when they realized someone had started to follow them. "Still not good enough, Konohamaru!" Naruto called back.

Haku watched in amusement as a rather large burst of smoke appeared and revealed two young boys and a young girl, all slipping into poses and introducing themselves. Haku couldn't help it – he burst into gleeful giggles over the whole spectacle.

"Yo boss! Who's she? Your girlfriend?" Konohamaru grinned.

Haku only laughed harder as Naruto rolled his eyes. "**He's** a friend, Konohamaru. His name's Haku."

All three kids blinked in confusion for a moment, before the girl said, stunned, "He's prettier than my mom!"

Haku blushed, and rolled his eyes heavenwards. Honestly, it's not his fault he was born so feminine. It might have been his fault that he let Zabuza-san teach him how to pretend to be a girl, however. Especially as most of those lessons stuck. How Zabuza-san knew any of that, however, was anyone's guess. Though even he couldn't deny that making his enemies think he's a defenseless little girl was far easier than a defenseless young boy.

Naruto just smirked at his blushing friend and laughed. "I know. You shoulda seen me at our first meeting!"

Poor Haku thought he was going to burst into flame he was blushing so hard. What was this, pick on Haku day?

After the laughter died down, and Haku's blush faded to acceptable levels, Naruto actually introduced him to the Konohamaru corps. Finding out that the leader of the rag-tag Naruto fans was the Hokage's grandson sent Haku into smiling happily.

When the kids pleaded the two of them to play ninja with them, Haku valiantly stifled his giggles as Naruto shrugged and agreed. A ninja playing ninja… then again, he supposed it was good training for the kids at least.

They played around for nearly an hour, with Haku and Naruto having been roped into playing the bad guys, of course. Haku nearly died laughing when the trio gave Naruto a big stick and asked him to play Zabuza, and Haku to play an evil version of himself. The wound on his heart from Zabuza's death still hurt, but he was amazed he could laugh and accept the chosen game. Rather than tossing his real senbon, Haku just chose sticks off the ground and tossed them too lightly to actually hurt the kids.

As Konohamaru took off around yet another corner, both 'villains' grinned and sped up as they heard his startled 'oof'.

Turning around the corner, both ninja narrowed their eyes warily at the… odd…boy… holding Konohamaru by the neck. He wore what seemed to be a black cat suit, and makeup in odd patterns across his face. "Release him this instant!" Haku growled.

The girl with straw colored hair in odd, star-like pigtails and a massive fan over her back, seemed to agree. "Leave him be Kankuro. We've got places we need to be."

"Nah, I think I'll have a little fun with this one Temari. He ran right into me, after all." Kankuro laughed.

"Put. Him. Down." Naruto stated calmly, reaching slowly for his sword. Haku and the foreign ninjas both noticed the action, and the girl stiffened.

"Kankuro, Gaara's orders were to get into town, and find a place to stay. Let's go!" She snapped warily. She wasn't really afraid of these kids… not yet anyway. But to an extent, both reminded her of Gaara…

"Why should I?" Kankuro laughed.

"Because if you scratch the grandson of our Hokage, you'll have likely started a war, Suna-nin," Haku coldly pointed out at spotting both foreigner's hitai-ate.

Kankuro quickly dropped the kid and backed up a wary step. "Yeah? Well, whatever."

As Konohamaru gasped for air, Haku and Naruto warily watched the two Suna-nin go. Feeling something, Haku looked up into the trees a second before Naruto did, to find a red-headed boy about Naruto's age, with a gourd over his back, eying them warily in return.

"And you are…?" Naruto warily asked.

"… Garra. Sabaku no Gaara. The idiots you just met were my siblings and teammates." Garra coldly proclaimed.

Both Haku and Naruto warily nodded. "I'm Naruto and this is Haku. Any hope you'll tell us why you're in our town?"

"If you don't already know, you likely will soon. I have to meet up with my team." Gaara stated coldly, vanishing in a swirl of sand.

Konohamaru slowly got to his feet, as the older duo looked around warily. "I wanna go home now." Konohamaru nearly whispered.

Haku turned to him and asked, "Let me see your throat. That's a good boy." As he gently inspected for any damage, and placed his hands gently over the bruises. Gently pouring chakra into the bruises, he easily healed the slight damage. "All better. Alright?"

Konohamaru nodded, sniffing, "Thanks."

"No problem. Let's get you three home now, alright?" Haku asked, looking over the other two kids. Getting slight nods, he turned to look at Naruto.

"I dunno where they live, and their parents are likely to throw a fit if I show up there. You take 'em Haku. I'll keep an eye out from the roofs, alright?" Naruto questioned.

Haku winced at the reminder of how the village treated his blonde friend, but nodded. Working together, they got all three kids home safely within fifteen minutes. "Wonder if the reason those three are here is why the higher-ups have been in with the Hokage all morning?" Naruto mused, leading the way over the rooftops to Ichiraku.

"Most likely." Haku agreed. "Though I can't think of why. I never lived inside a ninja village for long. I stayed with Zabuza in Kiri for less than a year."

Naruto nodded slowly as they landed, and quickly placed his order. Haku placed his a second later to the nice man behind the counter. The two people who work here, at least, aren't against Naruto. Though, whether that's because Naruto keeps them in business on his own, or whether they like him for him, Haku didn't yet know.

Settling down to eat, both ninja decided to worry later. No point in upsetting their stomachs by thinking of unpleasant things while they ate.

* * *

The Third Hokage looked out over the remaining jonin and chuunin still in his office. Earlier he had needed their aid to determine security, procedures, proctors… now was the reason they were still here. 

"As the first order of business, do any of the three rookie instructors wish to nominate their teams?" The Hokage questioned.

"I do! My team's ready." A man with a fluff of silver hair and a mask over the lower half of his face chirped. His nose stuck in a book and his hitai-ate over one of his eyes meant you saw nearly none of his face, even without the book.

"Are you certain Kakashi?" Sarutobi questioned warily. Team 7 hadn't done much, after all…

"Hai. Sasuke can handle it." Kakashi stated, before returning to his book.

The Hokage sighed sadly, and turned to his nephew. "And you, Asuma? What of your team?"

Asuma smiled around his cigarette. "The InoShikaCho trio is ready, Hokage-sama."

The third slowly nodded in acceptance. He thought it was too soon for that team too, however it was Asuma's decision. "And yours Hayate?"

Hayate smiled serenely. "I believe my team is ready Hokage-sama. I've taught them as much as I could already."

The Hokage smiled and nodded. That team, he could put faith in. "Very well, then. I grant-"

"Hokage-sama! Are you sure? Letting rookies in the chuunin exams!?" Iruka yelped, stepping forwards.

"They aren't your students anymore, Iruka. They're my soldiers." Kakashi stated.

Hayate gently grasped Iruka's shoulder as the Hokage demanded silence from the uproar Iruka's interruption had caused. "They'll be fine, Iruka. You have my word." Hayate whispered, letting the older man go. Iruka swallowed, but nodded and stepped back. He believed in Naruto, and his team, it was the other kids he was really worried about.

"I grant the rookie teams entrance to the Chuunin Exams." The Hokage proclaimed, once there was silence again. "Now, which older teams wish to petition to enter?"

* * *

After having parted ways with Naruto after lunch, Haku headed for the hospital. Today, his prowess as a medic-nin would start to be tested, and his training would commence. Walking in through the front doors, he smiled politely and nodded at the day's secretary, a medic he had personally heard call Naruto a freak. 

Once out of the woman's sight, he couldn't help the almost predatory grin. He's get that woman back sooner or later. Maybe by making her look so incompetent she gets demoted… Swiftly wiping the smirk off his face before he was seen, Haku continued to the room he had been told to head to.

Walking inside, he nodded politely to all three senior medics, and sat down in the chair indicated for the written portion. Looking down at the questions, Haku smiled. He learned most of this before he was eight.

Settling in to write the too-easy test, Haku finished in record time, and handed it over to the ninja indicated. They stared at him, stunned, for a moment, before shaking their shock off, and pulling back the sheet on the bed, revealing a dummy.

For the next portion, they would create an 'illness' or an 'injury' on the dummy, and it would be up to him to fix it, cure it, or at least diagnose it. He was able to fix or cure everything, as the doctors tried to find something to stump him with. They managed when they set something up in the dummy's lungs Haku had never seen before.

Pausing to think it over rationally, Haku tried to quickly figure out what the diagnostic was. Rhyming off likely symptoms, and possible complications, he quickly realized that it sounded familiar. A moment later, he realized they were trying to make him diagnose the kareha furei, the disease Hayate suffered from. Proclaiming this, he heard them sigh in defeat, but asked if he could study the dummy for a moment longer.

They saw no reason why not to, and let him. Ten minutes later, he had a slightly better knowledge of the disease, but was still no closer to figuring out how to safely cure it. Proclaiming he was finished with the dummy, and thanking them for the time, Haku waited to see what they would ask of him next as the called their chakra back from the dummy and turned it into hollow wood once more.

Motioning him to follow them, the medics brought them outside of an actual hospital room. "This young boy is suffering from multiple fractures in his left leg, a broken arm, and severe bruising over his rib cage. Your last test is to heal him."

Haku swiftly nodded. He walked inside and graced the crying boy with a soft smile, ignoring the medics watching him in the doorway as they explained to the mother why a fifteen year old child was approaching her son. "Hey there, brave one. I need you to look at me, alright?"

As the little boy turned to him and sniffed, Haku smiled at him proudly as he started to let his chakra sweep through the boy. No use just going on the medic's words, they were likely trying to make him fail. "You're very brave, you know that? Just hold on a little longer alright? This won't hurt a bit."

Noticing that the medics had mostly told him truth, they had just forgotten to mention the cracked rib and the broken finger, Haku set to work, starting on the rib, then moving to the leg. Once they were finished, and the boy was watching him in amazement, while the medics and the mother watched him in surprise, Haku turned to the broken arm, and then the finger, finally trailing back to the boy's chest to get rid of the bruising. "Almost done. Anything else hurt?"

The boy shook his head as Haku flicked his chakra for a second diagnosis. Nothing else was in dire need of fixing, but the boy's other arm had a nasty scratch he healed up, before stepping back. "All better. That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

The boy smiled and shook his head. "Thanks ma'am."

Haku groaned, and rolled his eyes and smiled. "No problem kiddo. But I'm a boy."

Both mother and son looked after the boy as he followed the amused medics from the room for his evaluation.

* * *

Arriving at the clearing just after Hinata, Naruto sat down to wait for Hayate. Deciding to pass the time getting to know each other some more, Hinata decided to explain as fully as she dared, more about the byakugan. 

When Hayate arrived about a half-hour later, he grinned at the similarity to the scene he had arrived in back when they had just started as a team, when Shino had explained about his kikaichu. He sat back and gave them a few moments for the last of the conversation to die, and then stepped forwards.

Before he could speak, Naruto beat him to the punch. "Hey Hayate-sensei, why are their foreign ninja in Konoha?"

Hayate blinked, startled. "Who and where? They were all under strict orders not to cause trouble."

Naruto hesitated, before stating, "A trio from Suna, and I don't remember what road." He decided to leave out the attack on Konohamaru. That could, as Haku stated, be taken as an act of war, and they did back off and leave it be.

"I'll speak to the Hokage of this, Naruto. Don't worry." Hayate smiled. "Now, I'm sure you're all dying to know what we were all called away for this morning, yes?"

Sure enough, all three of his students sat straighter and eyed him with a look that begged him to explain. Yes, he's gotten almost as good as Naruto and Hinata at reading Shino. He laughed at their eager expressions before explaining. "It's not really a secret, as it's held every six months. It just switches villages every time."

Sure enough, his students looked annoyed at his dancing around the issue, so he gave in and explained. "Every six months, the Chuunin Exam is held, to see if any genin from all of the nearby villages have what it takes to become chuunin. I've already nominated you three; you just need to sign the forums if you think you're ready." He handed them their forums as he explained.

"The exams are host to various ninja from various villages, so I expect you three to be on your best behavior. The exams are also meant to encourage peace between the villages, so any acts of hostility are treated as a sign of possible war. Thus, I request you try not to rise to any baiting the foreigners may try and get you with. Show the restraint and unity Konoha is known for, and be as non-aggressive as possible." Hayate finished.

All three were looking at him in amazement. "You have a week before the first exam. I want you to train lightly, don't overdo it. Save your energy for the exam. You don't need to have those signed until the first exam, where you hand them in to enter that part. I don't want to hear of you pressuring each other to take the exam, it's supposed to be your individual decision. I believe in you three enough to nominate you. Now, believe in yourselves."

All three nodded, and tucked their forums away. "For the next week, Kotetsu, Izumo and I will be wandering around town. Partly to keep an eye on things, partly to help out while still being available should you wish to speak with us. Now, on a lighter note, let's get to training."

They lightly sparred and trained in taijutsu until nearly six, at which point, Hayate called a halt to things. "How about you three join me for a celebratory dinner? My treat. Partly a delayed reward for the Wave mission, partly a gift for the nominations."

Naruto swiftly accepted, Hinata shyly nodded, And Shino nodded once. Hayate grinned. Odd and different though the three may be, the four of them were a team. And he was proud of them.

Quickly splitting to get cleaned up, they met up again in ten minutes back within their clearing. Hayate led them into town to a restaurant he knew they'd like.

Settling in, they happily made their orders. Naruto was amazed to realize the owner of the place was serving their table. Apparently, he was another of Hayate's many friends, and personally saw to making sure his team was well fed. Even Naruto himself.

After eating, with many smiles, laughter and lots of chatter going around from all four of them, they left the restaurant and Hayate started to walk each of them home. He had already warned them not to be outside alone too often, especially at night. Dropping off Hinata first, the three remaining headed to the Aburame compound. The two chirped their goodbyes to the still-smiling Shino as he headed inside, his mother on the porch waving at Naruto as she spotted his blonde hair.

Continuing on, Hayate knew he'd be walking Naruto past his place and hoped that Yugao wasn't there. After the hospital talk, she had headed off to her own apartment to think things through. He prayed that she wouldn't leave him; he loved her so much, but… He wouldn't abandon Naruto for her. He wouldn't toss aside his own beliefs for her either.

As a shadow leapt from his window, and landed before them to reveal Yugao, Hayate swallowed thickly. She stood there, silent for a moment, as she went over what she had seen as they made their way to where they stood now; talking and laughing like any father and son after an outing on the town. She knew then, as she had slowly begun to realize since the talk Hayate and Haku gave her, that she had been wrong.

She stunned the both of them by dropping into a formal bow before the two of them, and started to apologize. "I love you Hayate, and I'm sorry for ever doubting you. But my main apology isn't for you. Naruto, I have done you a great many wrongs in my life, and have done nothing to correct them before now. But please, I wish to apologize for them all now. For every cruel word I have ever spoken, for every beating I have turned away from, for every time I've stood aside and watched you get looked over, mistreated, abused… I'm so sorry." Yugao sobbed, crying her heart out by the end. "You're not the Fox, and I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to realize that."

Naruto starred at the beautiful woman, Hayate's girlfriend, crying her eyes out at his feet, and couldn't help the tears that welled up in his own. He had heard this woman was a proud creature, rarely apologized to her parents, the Hokage, Hayate… that she would apologize to him, now, in such a way…

Naruto dropped to his knees and pulled the crying woman into his arms, silently crying himself as she continued to sob. "It's alright. I forgive you." Naruto sniffed. He was rather perplexed that this only seemed to make her cry harder.

Yugao had shocked him when she had dropped into a bow and started to apologize, but he had never felt prouder of her than the moment that she turned her apology to Naruto over him. As Naruto dropped to his knees and took his girlfriend into his arms, Hayate couldn't help a smile as he stayed back and watched. This was her and Naruto's moment. He wouldn't interrupt.

When her sobs started to slow, Yugao couldn't help but question, "How can you forgive me so easily?"

Hayate walked over with a smile as his student seemed uncertain of how to answer that. "Because he's Naruto. He can forgive nearly everyone of everything." He said softly, sitting down behind her. He spared a thought for them being in the middle of the road, and then shrugged it off. Like he cared. People deserved to realize just what a treasure Naruto is.

Staring at Naruto in amazement, Yugao sniffed. She had never been more wrong about something than she had been about Naruto. "How's training with an ANBU sound to you?" She sniffed, remembering Hayate's claims that Naruto loved training.

She knew she guessed right when Naruto broke into a grin. "Sounds good." Naruto laughed softly.

The three of them stayed there for a few more minutes, huddling in the middle of the road. Once everyone had dry eyes again, Hayate stood and turned to help Naruto up, to find Yugao had beaten him to it.

Surprisingly, Yugao decided to help walk Naruto home, for once actually paying attention to what she, in part, had forced on him by treating him the way she had. The cheap, bad part of town, the scum of Konoha loitering the streets, the garbage piled in alleyways. Just looking around you knew neither water nor electricity were guaranteed for any length of time.

Leading the way to his house, Naruto burst into laughter at realizing Haku had caught someone trying to graffiti his house again. Wasn't hard when senbon were pinning a spray can into solid brick. "Good 'ole Haku." Naruto grinned. He didn't notice the older two wince at realizing just how often his place must be vandalized. There were many other holes from where senbon had pierced the brick.

Opening the front door, Naruto hesitantly offered them to come in. He knew he likely had nothing to offer them, but…

"We're good Naruto. Go get some sleep. You've got a big decision to make, and only a week in which to do so, alright?" Hayate smiled, watching sadly as his girlfriend looked at what she could of the inside, and seemed to be fighting off more tears.

"Okay! Night Hayate-sensei! Night Yugao!" Naruto chirped, turning and heading inside as the other two stepped back. He closed the door and bounded into the living room to talk with Haku. Maybe he could make sense of what happened today.

* * *

As they started to head home, Yugao seemed deep in thought. "Are you alright?" Hayate asked her worriedly. 

"No, I'm not. But realizing I was wrong might help. I'll do everything in my power to help that boy, Hayate. I swear it." She stated fiercely. She couldn't believe she had ever blindly believed…

Hayate watched her worriedly. "What's wrong, Yugao?"

She hesitated, before whispering painfully, "How can you love me, Hayate? I'm an evil, vicious person."

Hayate smiled softly. "No you're not. You're better than most of the village now, if you'll remember. You've admitted you were wrong, and even offered to help train Naruto. You're a sweet, stubborn, beautiful woman, and I love you with all my heart."

Yugao lost her fight against the tears again. Her beloved Hayate really was an angel stuck in frail, mortal form, wasn't he? As she looked at him through the tears, he almost seemed to glow. She sniffled in amusement at her own thoughts, and just wrapped her arms around her beloved. "How do you put up with me?" She laughed tearfully.

He grinned playfully back. "Because I know you. Sooner or later, usually later, you realize you were wrong. It's just a matter of waiting for that."

She sniffed, and held him tighter. "You've got to admit I'm an idiot at least, right?"

He made a bit of a show of thinking about that while they continued to walk. "Well, you did grow up as friends with Kotetsu and Izumo…"

Bursting into laughter, Yugao tried to swat Hayate upside the head, as he took off, laughing, down the street. She immediately took chase, tearing after him with all the speed her ANBU training has taught her. Somehow, he was still outrunning her. Arriving at Hayate's apartment, he flew up the stairs, Yugao right behind him. His grace failed as he tripped, and sprawled on the floor, having not anticipated the debris inside the door.

Yugao gracefully leapt over the shoes and coats and landed, straddling Hayate's butt. Reaching forwards with an evil grin, she set to exploiting his secret weakness. Tickling his sides fiercely, she reveled in the sound of his beautiful laughter.


	13. Chuunin Exam

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 13: Chuunin Exam

"So Naruto-kun. Today's the day, yes?" Haku smiled as Naruto wandered into his kitchen for breakfast.

"Yup." Naruto shakily responded. He'd never let anyone else know he was nervous, but… Haku was kind of the exception to that rule. He's already grown to care for Haku as much as Iruka and Hayate.

"How was your training all week? They ran me nearly ragged at the hospital to make sure I'd be able to help if things get out of hand." Haku smiled.

Naruto gulped worriedly. "We didn't do too much. Hayate wanted us to train lightly and save our energy for the exams. He basically just tested us in what we already know. He was also usually out patrolling, we just saw him at the beginning, lunch and the end of each training session."

Haku nodded slowly. "All ready, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "Any hope you have any idea what I'm in for?"

"Well, near as I can figure it, there will be a written test, a stealth test, a survival test, a combat test, a jutsu test, kenjutsu test, possibly a bloodline test, or a teamwork test. I honestly don't know Naruto, but as those are the most likely things…" Haku sighed, wracking his brain.

Naruto nodded. "Thanks anyway Haku." He laughed weakly.

After getting dressed, and armed, Naruto headed out to meet his team. Settling in between Shino and Hinata, his usual place, they looked at each other, and nodded, starting the quick trek to the academy together.

Heading into the grounds, they slowed down to take notice of all the foreign ninja from Suna and the minor countries between Suna and Konoha. Heading inside as the forums said to room 301, they walked into a hallway and paused at seeing the commotion going on.

Watching some thick-browed kid in green spandex get knocked down, Naruto squinted at the two guarding the door. One of them had spiky black hair, and bandages – one on each cheek and one on his chin, and the other had his hitai-ate worn like a bandana, brown hair and a mask that covered his neck and chin.

Watching as a girl with buns on her head tried to plea with the duo to get through, and got subsequently punched aside, Hinata breathed that they were only on the second floor. "This c-can't be room 301."

Naruto nodded, following his teammates slowly. "Hey guys," He whispered, "Don't the two guarding the door seem very familiar…?"

Hinata nodded while Shino started to eye them as they continued to slink past. It was only once they were on the stairs and heading up that Naruto snorted, realizing why they looked familiar. "Didn't they look like Kotetsu and Izumo?"

Both his teammates paused for a moment, before Hinata started to giggle and Shino smirked. "So that's why they looked so smug."

Grinning, they finished their quiet trek up the stairs, and headed for 301. Walking up to the door, they were slightly surprised to realize they weren't the first ones there. With the amount of ninja milling about outside and the number in the hallway downstairs, they thought they were the first team there.

They heard a soft laugh and turned to look a little ways to the left of the door, backing up so other people, if any came, could get through. "I'm proud of you three. You all decided to take the test." Hayate smiled, stepping out of the shadows.

"Of course!" Naruto laughed quietly. Hinata blushed but nodded proudly and Shino snorted softly.

"I was forced to fail to mention that you had to show up as a team. All three of you had to come, or you couldn't compete. I just couldn't say anything about it so you wouldn't pressure each other into coming." Hayate smiled sheepishly.

* * *

"Obviously, we're still on the second floor." Sakura smirked, agreeing with Sasuke's observation. 

"Of course!" Kiba laughed. Akamaru pitched in his own agreement as well.

As the 301 above the door morphed into a 201, the spiky-haired guard, likely a genjutsu'd Kotetsu, launched a kick at Sasuke. "Hey… not bad. But just seeing through the illusion isn't enough!"

As Sasuke brought up his own leg in a kick, the green-clad boy from before, who acted so meek, sprung between them and caught both kicks in each hand.

As the boy's team walked up to him, another boy with white eyes and long black hair said, "Hey… That's not what we agreed! You're the one who insisted we should avoid drawing attention to ourselves."

"B-But…" The green-clad boy stammered, blushing as he turned to Sakura.

"Here we go again…" The girl with the twin buns in her brown hair groaned, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head.

Walking straight up to Sakura, the thick-browed boy began to talk. "Um- Hi. My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, aren't you?" Breaking into a big smile that caused his teeth to sparkle and a wink, Rock Lee continued, "Would you like to go out with me? I'll protect you with my life!"

"No… WAY." Sakura deadpanned. "You're lame."

* * *

Hearing a commotion outside just after walking into the room and taking a seat near the door, Team 8 looked curiously out into the hall as far as they could. Naruto couldn't help the big smile he was sporting as he watched Sakuke get tossed around by some boy in green spandex. 

He nearly begged for the fight to continue when a big red turtle arrived to break the fight up. Sulking, Naruto kept watching, hoping to see the damn Uchiha get his ass tossed into a few more walls. Hinata was giggling and even Shino was smirking after that little show.

As the Turtle started to berate the green-clad boy, they watched as Team 7 looked more and more pissed at Sasuke's loss.

When a bigger, bushier-browed version of the boy appeared on the turtle, they watched with wide eyes as the bigger one punched the smaller one. As the bigger one, likely his sensei, crouched beside the fallen boy, they gaped as the two started to cry, and then to hug… and was that a sunset in behind them...?!

"Sad, isn't it? You don't have to work with those people." Hayate chuckled, apparently having stuck around to ensure they got signed up without a problem. At some point the trio had wandered up to the door to better watch - likely while Sasuke had been getting his ass kicked.

All three members of Team 8 nodded in a sort of horrified stupor as the crying and hugging continued. For the first, and hopefully last, time in their life, they found themselves agreeing with Team 7, and started to back away slowly, back into their seats.

Hearing Ino behind them demanding to know where her Sasuke-kun was, Team 8 rolled their eyes and turned back to the door in time to hear what must be Team 7's sensei congratulating all of them, especially Sakura, for showing up.

As the three walked in, they were forced into watching Ino make a fool of herself by leaping upon Sasuke. Watching Sakura leap into the fray only made it even more difficult to watch, but they found themselves watching with the same type of fascination, just to a lesser degree, that left them immobile and watching the hugging earlier.

As they heard Team 7 and Team 10 make fools of themselves by trading insults back and forth, Team 8 looked around at the competition while Naruto softly explained what Haku had told him about the likely tests.

Hearing a voice requesting both teams shut up, all three turned their attention gleefully to watching a silver-haired boy a few years older than them with glasses walk up to the two teams.

Seeing no reason not to, the team listened in to Kabuto explaining how this was his seventh time through the exam, and pointing out the other ninja who were rather pissed with the two teams. As he pulled out his cards and admitted what they were for, team eight listened closer.

Listening to how many shinobi from each country was useful, hearing Sasuke ask about specific people, however, caught their full attention. Maybe he'd ask about the sand trio for them.

"Gaara, from Suna, and Rock Lee from Konoha." Sasuke stated calmly.

"You know their names? No sweat, then!" Kabuto laughed, pulling two cards out.

"First up is Rock Lee. He's a year older than you three. Missions to date: 20 D-ranked, 11 C-ranked. His team's mentor is Maito Gai. He was considered a standout among last year's genin… but he didn't apply for the chuunin exam. He's a first timer like you three. His teammates are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten." Kabuto explained. "Next is Sabaku no Gaara, of Suna. 8 C-ranked missions… one B. Wow! Not many rookie shinobi get B-ranked assignments! Since he's from Suna, I have less on him… but he's come back from every mission unscathed."

Still paying attention, Naruto let out a soft breath. When he was still in the Academy, he'd have been pissed that no-one asked about him. Now, however, he couldn't be more relieved. He didn't want any more attention on him yet than needed. And he definitely didn't need Sasuke after his head out of jealousy.

* * *

"How were they?" A heavily scarred man in a large, black trench coat asked. 

"Not bad. The Uchiha's team discovered the genjutsu and let the others passed. Some teams skipped the interior all together and went in through the windows on the third floor. Naruto's team slipped past us, and I get the feeling that they realized who we were even." The spiky haired guard laughed, dropping the genjutsu, revealing that the two 'guards' were really Kotetsu and Izumo after all.

"How many got through?" The man continued.

"153 in total sir. 30 from Sand, 21 from Rain, 6 from Grass, 6 from Waterfall, 3 from Sound, and 87 from here." Izumo reported.

"You boys are getting soft! A few years ago, we could be guaranteed less than 100 in the first round alone!" Anko laughed, causing the duo to blush.

"It's the damn Uchiha's fault for announcing the genjutsu to everyone instead of being a good little shinobi and sneaking past!" Kotetsu snarled.

"True." Anko purred. "Well Ibiki, I guess it's time for your turn to tear into the little brats. Don't leave me too many, hmm?"

Both Kotetsu and Izumo shivered as the scarred man threw a smirk at their crazy friend. "Do I ever?"

* * *

As the ninja sat, talked or looked around in their three-man teams while waiting for something to happen, a few specific teams were paying attention to one of the two groups of the rookie 9. 

Gaara and his teammates were watching Naruto's team curiously, and wondering where his friend was. Lee's team was watching team 7, while the team from sound were glaring at Kabuto.

As the sound trio launched their attack on Kabuto, most of the room seemed completely unconcerned. Team 8 watched warily, mostly because Kabuto is a Konoha ninja, though they felt no need to interfere yet.

When Kabuto's glasses shattered as he dodged the punch, and then collapsed to hurl, Team 8 was trying to figure out how that happened. They saw Kabuto dodge, so it had to be something else…

As the room started to murmur, curious about the trick the sound-nin used, said sound-nin was gearing up for another attempt.

"Would you little brats just shut up?!" A cold voice bellowed as smoke covered the front of the room, effectively silencing everybody.

As the smoke cleared, Team 8 was able to see the heavily scarred man in front, wearing his hitai-ate like a headband, and a high-necked black trench coat over a uniform that looked slightly like a chuunin's.

Behind him stood many ninja, Kotetsu and Izumo amongst them, that wore the same uniform, minus the trench coat. Giving them a moment to stare, Ibiki growled, "Sorry to have kept you punks waiting. My name is Morino Ibiki. I'm the proctor and chief examiner for the first part of the exam."

As the genin in the room all started to shiver, minus a select few, from the slight killing intent the man was leaking, Ibiki continued. "You… the kids from Sound! You can't act any way you please when the exams are about to start! Or do you want to be disqualified?"

"Sorry, sir… It's our first exam, and we got a little carried away." The one who attacked Kabuto said apologetically, pulling his metal-covered arm beneath his cloak.

"Is that so? Then it's high time someone laid down a few ground rules. From this point forward, there will be no more fighting without the express permission of the examining officer… and even if that permission is granted, anything that endangers another applicant's life is strictly forbidden. Any of you little piglets who break that rule are out. Disqualified. No second chances. Got that?" Ibiki growled menacingly.

As murmurs and noises started, all Ibiki had to do was flick his killing intent up a notch and everything silenced once more. "The first part of the selection exam is about to commence. Hand in your written applications, and take one of these seating assignment cards… and report directly to the seat indicated. When everybody'd seated, we'll pass out the written part of the test." As Ibiki finished his explanation, Kotetsu and Izumo pointedly held up the written tests, while the other proctors moved to sit around the room, minus the one waiting to collect the applications and hand out seating arrangements.

As Naruto handed his application in, he passed a grin to his two teammates. He knew he was likely screwed if this was an intelligence test, but he'd still try his damnedest.

Heading to his seat, he swiftly looked to either side of him to see the Sand chick from before, Temari wasn't it? On one side, and someone from Rain he didn't know on his other.

"Papers face down until I give the signal. Now listen up." Ibiki called. "There are a few big rules that pertain to this first test. I'll write them on the blackboard and explain them all, but I'm not taking questions, so listen carefully. I will say this only once."

"Rules?" Naruto heard Sakura question from some point behind him.

"Rule number one! Each one of you starts out here with ten points. The test has ten questions, each worth one point. For each question you get wrong, we subtract a point from your score. Get all ten right, and you retain the ten points you have. But if, for example, you answer three questions incorrectly, we take your ten points… subtract one point for every wrong answer… and your total drops down to seven."

He finished writing rule one on the blackboard and turned to watch them for a moment, before continuing. "Rule number 2… This written test is still a team event. Passing or failing will be determined by the sum of the points held by all three members of each cell. The object is for each team to have as few deductions as possible from its joint thirty-point total."

'_So basically, __all__ I need to do is not fail, or at least have a few points by the end to add to the team total at worst…'_ Naruto mused hopefully. He missed whatever Sakura had called out about, but he didn't miss Ibiki's answer.

"Shut up and you might learn something. This next bit is crucial. Rule number three. If, during the exam, a candidate does anything out of the ordinary… in other words, anything that leads the proctors to determine that he or she has cheated… we subtract two points from each member of the cheater's team." Ibiki coldly explained.

As gasps of understanding and fear were heard, Ibiki, amost cheerfully explained, "Exactly! In all probability, some of you will run through your entire allowance of points during the test. If so, you'll be failed and asked to leave."

Kotetsu slumped in his chair with an impish laugh that drew fearful attention to him. "I'll be looking over your shoulders when you _least_ expect it."

Ibiki smirked at the help from the playful chuunin, and continued, "If you let the proctors catch you cheating, you'll bring both yourself and your team down! If you aspire to be chuunin… if you want to be the best shinobi you can be… then you'd better start acting like you already are!"

As people started to fidget after that announcement, Ibiki coldly stated, "One more thing… If any individual looses all ten of his or her points, that person's entire cell, regardless of how the other two members do… will be disqualified!"

Kiba and a few others throughout the room gave disparaging cries, Naruto just swallowed thickly and begged his brain to figure this one out. "You have one hour. …Starting… NOW!" Ibiki called.

Flipping his test over along with everyone else, Naruto started to look over the questions. _'Oh man, these are so much worse than anything the academy ever threw at me.'_ Naruto mentally moaned. He couldn't answer a single one. As he started to panic, and smacked his head down on the table to try and think, he forced himself to focus.

_'Iruka-sensei would never let us get away with cheating even once.'_ Was the first thought on the situation that flooded through Naruto's mind. Continuing on that train of thought, he concluded, after about five minutes, that the test was supposed to make you cheat. What did Haku call it, a stealth test…? '_Okay, now, how to cheat without getting caught. __Kage __bunshins__, summoned really small, maybe in the form of bugs…? __Too easy to spot.__ Maybe if I go to the bathroom and call them there…? __No, too similar to what Shino will likely do.__ I don't want them to think it was him if I'm caught, cause then we'll still be disqualified.'_

Tossing the bunshin theory out the window, Naruto proceded to try and figure something else he could do. _'Damn it, my techniques aren't meant for this quiet stuff! Hinata and Shino were trained for this __kinda__ thing, they cover my weaknesses and I cover theirs. They dig up the info, and I cover their asses!'_

Naruto continued to mull over this for another ten minutes, over twenty minutes have passed now, and he's resolutely been blocking out the sound of Ibiki's voice, proclaiming all who failed and had to leave the room. As long as his cell isn't called, Naruto was determined not to pay it any mind.

Going back to his thoughts, he new he had about twenty minutes left before the tenth question was given. Head on his desk as he looked at his hands hopefully, nearly begging them to write the answers he didn't know, Naruto watched a bead of sweat slide down his hand.

'_Everybody in here's sweating. From a combination of the stress and fear… and it's __kinda__ warm in here on top of it all… THAT'S IT!!!' _It took every ounce of self control not to break his current pose and continue to look desolate. Shifting one hand to start to doodle on the margins, he looked resolutely into another bead of sweat on his hand. '_Come on Haku, come on. You said you always knew when Zabuza was in need of you, and that you __would know the same of me now…'_

A few moments later, his begging paid off. He could see said bead of sweat freeze over, and tilted his hand to slowly let Haku see the questions. Once he was sure that Haku had them all, he shifted his pose to propping his head up with said bead of frozen sweat right near his ear. Waiting for Haku's answers took all of about three minutes. Haku likely knew most of them himself, and any he didn't, he likely pulled the same trick, though likely on other contestant's faces.

As Haku's voice flitted from within the small bead of ice, too quiet for even Naruto to have heard were it not so close, Naruto lazily started to fill in his answers, still looking like he was simply doodling. Once they were all filled in, he heard Haku's soft 'good luck' in his ear, and continued on with his doodling.

Keeping the stressed and worried look on his face, Naruto listened when he heard Kotetsu's distinctive voice calling out a failing team. Chancing a glance at the clock, he realized it was almost time for the tenth question.

Hearing the girl beside him chuckle and lean back in her seat, Naruto knew she had finished without getting caught. He knew he had to keep playing the dunce, however, because if even for a moment, he looked like he knew the answers, the proctors would likely be after him like a shark after blood. He was known as the dunce back in the academy for a reason after all.

Ibiki also ran his eyes over the genin, eying them like a hawk. Whoever his eyes landed on, at the very least, usually flinched. That Gaara kid and Naruto were two of the only exceptions.

Kotetsu and the other proctors kept their eyes peeled. They had weeded out a good few teams, and both himself and Izumo were proud of the fact that none of the members of Team eight had been caught once. There were very few teams that could boast that. Team 7, on the other hand… Kiba's techniques were nearly flawless, and Sakura didn't even need to cheat… Sasuke, on the other hand, was forced into trying to use others' techniques for his own gain. Until the brat gains the sharingan, he will likely be forced into doing things the hard way. He gets caught once more, and his team's out.

"Get ready for the tenth question." Ibiki called out. "And before we get to the question itself, I'm adding one more new rule." As one of the genin from Suna that slipped out earlier for the bathroom slipped back in, Ibiki smirked at him slightly before continuing. "Let me explain. This rule… Is absolute."

* * *

Most of the Konoha jonin instructors all sat sprawled around the large room granted for just such a purpose. They were forbidden from leaving the room until the first exam was over. Hayate sat a little away from both Kakashi and Asuma, uninterested in their discussion of the women of the village. He had Yugao, and right now, he was worried about his team. Just after he left them to come here, Ko had passed him in the hall and warned him that Ibiki was in charge of the first exam this year. As much faith as he has in his team, even he was rather intimidated by the large man, especially when he sets to intimidate people. 

He's rather proud to call the ANBU torture and interrogation unit leader his friend… but that doesn't mean he isn't a little afraid of the man. There's no-one better to have at your back in a fight, but… if he's against you, as he undoubtedly is against the genin… you're safer just playing dead and hoping the man buys it.

Oh how he wished he had given a rundown of every ninja in the village to his team…!

* * *

"First… you must choose… whether to accept or reject this tenth question!" Ibiki called out. 

The girl beside Naruto yelped out, "Ch-choose? What happens if someone doesn't accept the question?!"

Ibiki coldly continued. "If you reject the question and don't even try to answer it, you'll lose all your points immediately… and fail! And both of your teammates will fail right along with you."

"Say what? Then why would we choose to reject it?" A ninja behind Naruto to the right yelped angrily.

"Because… of the other rule. If you try to answer the question… and you get it wrong… you will never be permitted to apply for the chuunin ninja exams again. Not ever." Ibiki cried out.

An absolute uproar was heard over this. "You can't be serious! That's ridiculous! There are ninja who have sat for the chuunin exams more than once already! We know there are!!" Kiba's voice was heard atop the others. Mostly everyone quieted in agreement to hear the answer.

"Just your rotten luck. I wasn't making the rules in past years. I am now." Ibiki growled. "I've been up front with you. You can take a failing grade now, and try again later. Anyone who has doubts would be smart to reject the tenth question right now. Come back and reapply next year, and the year after that."

As people sat in thought for a moment, absorbing that, Naruto quickly threw a look back to each of his teammates, relieved that both nodded resolutely back.

"Ready? Then let's begin." Ibiki deadpanned. "Those who chose not to accept should raise their hands. Once their number has been confirmed, they will leave the room."

As hands started to raise and people started to leave, Naruto continued to sit resolutely and wait. He could sense when the girl beside him turned to look at him in surprise – even she was shaking – and he turned to flash the blonde his foxy grin. She blushed slightly, but stopped shaking, and turned to face forwards once again.

"Never underestimate me. I won't quit, and I don't run." Naruto growled, turning to catch his teammates eyes again. Both sat up straighter and looked as determined and ready as he did. He noticed as he turned back around that the genin sitting all around him here giving him startled looks, sitting straighter then they had been before he spoke. The girl at his side looked nearly fierce.

Ibiki had noticed the affect Naruto had on those around him, as well as his teammates, and smirked. Kid had guts. Were he still like he was back during the academy, he'd have likely yelled whatever he said for the world to hear and made his job even harder. As it was, there were still a few too many teams left. Anko would never let him live this down.

"I'll ask you one last time. This is a decision that could affect the rest of your life. Quit now, while you still have the chance." Ibiki growled, a little annoyed the kid could throw off all the work Ibiki had put into terrifying the applicants all around him.

_'Seventy-eight of them __are__ still here. Anko will truly never let me live this down. We were all expecting to be down to at least 54.'_ Ibiki mused. '_No point in dragging it out any longer. Those around him are affecting those around them to an extent as well. No one else will quit.'_

"Good call. So, everyone who's still here… You've passed the first exam!" Ibiki called.

"What do you mean, passed?" Ino shrieked.

"There is no tenth question… beyond the whole 'accept' or 'reject' thing." Ibiki grinned. More then a few people shivered more from his grin then from his growling earlier.

"Hey! Then why did we have to suffer through the other nine questions?! That was a total waste of our time!" Kiba yelled angrily.

"There was no waste. Those questions had two purposes. To weed out the first batch of wimps and to test your skills… at spying!" Ibiki smirked, watching as more then a few people got stunned looks on their faces. Others looked rather smug. Naruto, he noticed, and his team were still watching him warily, like they weren't sure he wouldn't pull a fast one on them. Smart brats. Were he allowed, he would have.

"Remember the rules at the beginning? You pass or fail as part of a three-man cell. With that rule, I pressured you with the fear that anything you did wrong… would bring your teammates down with you." Ibiki explained. "However… the questions are beyond the level that genin level ninja could be expected to handle. So most of you… had only one way of retaining your points – by cheating. In other words… we set up the test on the assumption you'd cheat. And, to ensure there would be suitable targets for you to cheat from, we snuck in a trio of fakes… three chuunin to pose as an extra genin team who already knew all the answers."

Naruto rolled his eyes in amusement. He didn't know who Haku cheated off of, he was just glad it worked.

"Of course, anyone who cheated in a clumsy or obvious fashion…" Ibiki stated, reaching up to untie his hitai-ate. "…Failed." As he pilled his hitai-ate off his head, horrified gasps, cries, and whispers were heard. "Because there may be circumstances where being caught in an act of espionage can cost you more than just your life. You pay in ways that can be taken from you little by little, time and time again, when many lives hang in the balance." Everyone was starring in a kind of horrified fascination at his head, covered in burn scars, puncture marks, slashes… he gave them a moment, before puling his hitai-ate back on.

"The information you obtain can't be trusted… if you can't keep your presence secret from the enemy. Learn that, and learn it well. If you bring back intelligence from a suspect source or a compromised operation… you're doing you're enemies' work for them, putting those you serve in danger. That is why we maneuvered you into using your skills of espionage to cheat. It was the quickest way of weeding out the student's who's skills aren't up to snuff." Ibiki explained.

"Okay… but what about the tenth question?" Sasuke inquired.

"Ah! The tenth question… was the first real test on the exam. Let me explain… the tenth question… was a choice between two options… that were both difficult, and dangerous. Those who chose to reject were failed, and their friends along with them. Those who chose to accept and couldn't answer the question… lost any chance of ever even trying again. It was a nasty, unfair, no-win set of options. So why did I present them?" Ibiki questioned.

"Let's suppose you all go on to successfully attain the rank of chuunin. You are assigned to steal a vital enemy document… knowing nothing about the skills, deployment, or military preparedness of your foe. You may have to cross a territory that has been heavily mined and set with traps. Now… do you accept your mission? Or reject it… Rather than place your own life – or the lives of your companions – in jeopardy? Could any chuunin get away with taking only the safe jobs? Of course not! No matter how dangerous the risk… there will be missions that you cannot decline. A ninja must demonstrate valor that inspires those around them… helping all to overcome their fear." Here, more than just Ibiki tossed a quick look at Naruto.

"This is the talent that we most value in the commander of a chuunin cell! Those who can't gamble with their own fate… who would trade today's certain risk for tomorrow's uncertain future… never taking the chance that lies before them… are weaklings who make only weak and easy decisions. In my opinion, they don't belong in the ranks of the chuunin at all!" Ibiki yelled.

"By choosing to accept… you answered the almost-insoluble tenth question correctly. If you keep that spirit, you can probably conquer all of the many doubts and difficulties you'll face. You've passed the first hurdle. Part one of the chuunin selection exam is now concluded. I'll pray you fight the good fight!" Ibiki proudly proclaimed.

Naruto was grinning from ear to ear as he looked up at Ibiki. _'He's the man who took that woman away atop the Hokage monument…'_

At that very moment, something black flew threw the window. Two kunai launched from within it, stretching the thing out by the corners as the genin in the room burst into confused mumbling once more.

_'Now…? Anko never will let me live this down…'_ Ibiki groaned.


	14. The Forest of Death

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 14: The Forest of Death

As the black thing was pulled out by the two kunai, it revealed someone curled up in a ball, twirling with the fabric and being deposited in a crouch before them as the banner unfurled. The woman stood up swiftly to be revealed as wearing a mesh shirt and shorts combo, a short black skirt that barely went far enough down to be decent, and an opened tan colored trench coat. Her black hair was pulled back in a style reminiscent of a feather duster in the back, and her purple-grey eyes shone with malice.

"None of you are in any position to celebrate! I am the second chief examination officer… Mitarashi Anko!! Time's a-wastin' people. Let's go!!" Anko yelled, throwing her right arm up. "Follow me!!!"

Most of the genin were staring at the woman like she was crazy. The rest were suicidal enough to be staring at her nearly-naked chest. The mesh really didn't hide much.

Ibiki pulled a part of the banner away from where it obstructed him from view with an amused smirk. "Here already Anko?"

Anko snorted, and turned to look over the frozen genin. "Seventy-eight of you are still here?! Ibiki, you passed 26 teams?! And here I thought only Ko and Izu were that bad! You're gettin' soft 'Biki!"

Ibiki rolled his eyes. Now he knew for sure he'd never live this down. "We have some extraordinary applicants this year."

"Yeah right." Anko snorted, "I'll cut down the number by half before the next test is done. 'Show you I'M not soft at least!"

Naruto turned to spare a look to his teammates, and caught the blonde's eye again on his turning back to the front. All looked rather worried about the odd woman, and what she may do to them to cut their numbers in half.

"Ooh!! I get charged up just thinking about it!" She purred, and then called, "I'll explain things in detail as soon as we move to our next location… Follow me!" So saying, she leapt out the window. Looking at each other and shrugging, the genin followed the proctor's example and left via the windows.

Following the woman as fast as they could, team eight soon gravitated towards each other and were running and leaping in their usual formation. "How did you cheat, Naruto?" Shino questioned curiously. "None of your techniques are really meant for espionage." Hinata, too, turned her attention to him.

"I got Haku to help. You know that odd sixth sense he has? How he knows what I need and when all the time? He felt me needing his help and froze some of my sweat into one of his mirrors – just a really little one though – and passed on the information I needed." Naruto happily explained.

"Clever N-Naruto-kun. Other ninja c-can be used as t-tools and weapons as well, a-after all." Hinata smiled, remembering a particular lesson they got from Hayate while still in Wave.

Naruto nodded as they continued on. "I had a couple other ideas before that, actually. One could've got you in trouble if I was caught though, Shino, so I nixed that one. Another was just too hard to hide the start up."

The other two nodded, as Anko started to slow down. They had an easy time of cheating. They had been worried about Naruto, however.

As Anko leapt from the buildings and led them closer and closer to a forest filled with massive trees surrounded by a chain-link fence, most of the genin gulped. The trees were bigger around than two houses pushed together! Every ninja and child of Konoha has heard ghost stories of those woods, and what lurks within. One of the main specters said to have been born there was the Kyuubi. Before it attacked the town, there had been many reports of a nine-tailed fox living within the woods.

Getting far closer to the fence then they would have liked, they saw a small booth filled with three ninja with their backs to the fence. As Anko walked right passed them to lean against the fence, right beside what they realized was a door, most of the genin froze, unwilling to go any closer. Noticing the sign of 'no trespassing' on either side of the door, and chains, locks and seals keeping the doors shut, even the braver genin finally stopped advancing.

Turning to look at the brats following her with a wide, impish smile, Anko announced, "This is the arena for the second exam: Training Ground 44. Also known as… the **forest of death**!!

Naruto craned his neck back as far as it would go and still couldn't see the tops of the massive trees. "Well, this looks… fun." Shino murmured, making both Hinata and Naruto grin.

Anko started to laugh, catching everyone's attention once more. "You're about to experience firsthand… why they call this the 'forest of death'!"

Sasuke snorted, "_Really_ now? Big deal. And you're all afraid of this bimbo?" He sneered quietly.

Amused tough she may be, Anko decided to teach the little punk a lesson. Pulling back her arm, she let loose two kunai at the startled genin as he landed flat on his ass. One landed inches away from something important between his legs and buried to the hilt into the ground. The other shot past his cheek, continuing on to slice a strand of hair from one of the Grass-nins before embedding in the ground.

Moving almost faster than the kunai she threw, Anko was crouched behind Sasuke, one hand wrapped around the kunai as she licked the blood off his cheek. "You're pretty cocky, aren't ya?" She giggled, pulling the kunai out of the ground. TheUchiha shook, and tried to not look as terrified of the woman as he now found himself. "Your kind are always the first to go. Spilling all that rich, red, lovely, luscious blood…" She purred.

Felling something behind her, Anko swiftly stood, kunai in hand, to block the Grass-nin's long tongue. "Your kunai… I believe you dropped it." The kunoichi purred.

"Gee… thanks." Anko snorted, feeling the killer intent from the kunoichi behind her put her on edge. "Don't just stand behind me… radiating _bloodlust_… unless you're in a hurry to die." Anko smirked.

The Grass nin turned to walk back to her teammates. "I'll try to keep it under control… but the sight of warm, fresh blood really makes me crazy… and I was already revved up… from loosing a strand of my precious hair."

Most of the genin were torn between watching their obviously crazy competition, or their insane proctor. Naruto and his team spared glances for the spooked Uchiha.

Walking away from the shaking Uchiha, Anko laughed happily. "Looks like we've got a hoot-blooded team on our hands this year!" Walking back to her place in front, Anko reached into her jacket and pulled a stack of papers out. "Before we begin the second exam… There's something I need you to do. These are consent forms. Everybody has to sign one. We want all the details before the first deaths occur. Sign before you go in so we can't be held liable. You wouldn't want me to get in trouble now, would you?" She grinned, smiling sweetly at the end.

Most of the genin gulped worriedly. More so at having to spend more time with her then the possible deaths.

After she handed out the forms, Anko continued. "First, I'll explain what the second exam entails. Then you can sign the forms. With the other two members of your cell, bring the forms to the hut behind you and submit them. Got that? Now, about the exam. To put it simply… It's a no-holds-barred survival test."

Smirking around at the confused ninjas, she explained. "Let's start with the topography of this training ground. I'll explain the rest later. Training ground 44… is bordered by a circular perimeter, interrupted at regular intervals by 44 locked gates. There is this massive forest and a river… and in the very center is a tower… about 10 kilometers from those gates. Within the confines of this carefully delineated area, you're going to undergo a survival test. During the course of the test, you may use any ninja arts or tools you have at your disposal. It's a kind of fight-to-the-death version… of 'capture the flag'… or in this case, 'capture the scroll'. You see, every team will get either a 'heaven scroll', or an 'earth scroll'. You're objective, is to acquire both scrolls." She held up both a green and brown scroll and a blue and green scroll for emphasis, the darker one with 'earth' printed on it, and the lighter one with 'heaven'.

"There are 78 of you here. That's 26 three-member teams. Thirteen teams will start out with a heaven scroll… and thirteen with an earth scroll. You'll need both scrolls to pass. So your objective is to hold onto your own scroll, get your hands on one of the other kind… and then bring them both… to the tower at the center." She continued, gleefully.

"In other words, at least half of us really are guaranteed to fail." Sakura sighed from nearby the pissed off Sasuke.

"You bet! And, there's a time limit!" She nearly sang. "You have 120 hours in which to complete this exam – exactly five days!"

"Five days?!" Ino shrieked in outrage.

"What are we supposed to do for food?!" Chouji yelled. Numerous mutterings and cries from other ninja were also heard.

"That's your problem. The forests are full of nature's bounty. Of course, they're also full of man-eating animals, deadly insects, and poisonous plants." She stated calmly. "There's no way as many as 13 teams will pass this. As the time shortens, the trials will come harder and faster… with less recovery time for any mistakes, accidents, or injuries. You'll be surrounded by enemies at all times, so you'll have to sleep with one eye open. So, in addition to those who die in attempts to defend or capture a scroll… some of you are bound to succumb to exhaustion, exposure, starvation and dehydration."

Here, Anko went back to smiling. "Now, let's talk about the rules… and what offenses you can be disqualified for! One, obviously, the teams that fail to reach the tower in time – as a three member cell, carrying both a heaven and an earth scroll – are out. Two, so is any team that loses a member, whether to death or to severe injury. And under no circumstances… can you leave the forest before the time is up. No recess. No time outs."

She paused to look over everyone as Shino breathed, "Note, she never said other people can't enter, or teams can't work together. It's worth thinking about." The other two nodded, though Naruto decided they'd save calling on Haku as a last resort.

"Also… You're forbidden to look at the contents of the scrolls until you're inside the tower!" Anko yelled, catching all attention once more.

"What happens if we sneak a peek?" Kiba asked curiously.

"That's for those who look to find out!" Anko winked. "If any of you make it to chuunin level, there will be times when you'll be entrusted with top-secret documents… so consider this a test of your trustworthiness. That's all the explanation you get. We'll trade one scroll for every three forms. When you've got yours, choose the gate you want to start from. Everyone will begin at the same time. One final piece of advice… Stay alive!"

As the curtain was pulled to cover the booth, team eight quickly read their forms and signed them. As they watched team after team head in, they got up and waited for their turn. When they walked in to get their scroll, they looked at the earth scroll for a moment, before almost as one, Hinata and Naruto handed it to Shino, who quickly hid it within his jacket.

Walking out with the key to their chosen gate in hand, team eight headed for gate 16.

* * *

Wandering into the room that held all the jonin instructors, Ibiki couldn't withhold a sneer. Most of these people had kids under their care that just flunked, or worse, were left with Anko's tender mercies to face their possible deaths, and these people were talking, laughing, and playing cards like it was some kind of holiday. 

Spotting the worried form of his friend Hayate, Ibiki quickly made his way over. He had already handed over a copy of each test that passed to the Hokage, now he just needed to hand out the tests to the sensei to let them know their team passed.

As Hayate noticed a shadow spill over him, he quickly looked up and sucked in a worried breath at seeing Ibiki. "Did they...?" He breathed hopefully.

"Congratulations Hayate. Your team passed." Ibiki smiled, handing over Naruto, Hinata and Shino's tests. "Naruto made it rather hard to fail a fair number this year too. Anko's gonna have fun slicing the number in half."

Hayate nearly turned white at realizing his team had to deal with Anko just after Ibiki. Watching the large man nearly throw the tests at the other jonin, and leaving them to scramble for any they didn't catch, Hayate held up the tests to go over. All perfect. Though he couldn't help but wonder how Naruto passed…

Hearing a single sheet of paper caught out of the air, rather than the shuffling of plucking them off the ground, Hayate looked up to see Kakashi holding one sheet of paper, while the other two floated to the ground.

* * *

"Part two of the chuunin ninja selection exam begins… NOW!!" Anko roared out, as the gates opened up. 

"Let's go!" Naruto whooped quietly, leading his team into the forest. Shino's kikaichu had already begun to work at scouting the interior after slipping inside while no one was watching. Activating her byakugan, Hinata kept her eyes peeled for anything and everything, as Shino, the bugs in the forest, and his own kikaichu did the same.

Quickly leaping up into the branches in the hopes to not get leapt on by anything, team eight continued on. Seeing an unknown team nearby, Hinata silently passed that warning onto the others. Stopping, Shino sent his kikaichu to check the team out while the three of them started to set a trap.

While Hinata and Shino were quickly collecting vines and weaving them into sturdy ropes, Naruto and his clones were digging a pit. Shino was also hard at work communicating with the insects of the forest – especially the really big ones. Getting the pit too deep to get out of easily, Naruto swiftly accepted one of the ropes to get up. Tossing their homemade net into the pit after securing it to the trees, Shino's kikaichu reported that the trio was free of chakra, and even which one held the scroll.

Luring the team to them was the easy part – all Naruto had to do was make a bit of a racket and the three older Konoha ninja followed the bait. When they got close enough, Shino used his ever-increasing rapport with insects to call out to the massive preying mantis nearby to chase the three into the pit. Watching as the trio ran into the clearing blindly, screaming bloody murder as they fell into the pit, all three ninja of team 8 rolled their eyes. Pathetic.

As Hinata pulled the ropes taught and pulled the net off the ground within the pit, she used her byakugan to find the scroll and leapt in to get it.

Shino softly thanked the preying mantis as Naruto walked up to the two of them. "Thank you, kind lady!" Naruto playfully chirped at the preying mantis before he went to help Hinata retrieve the scroll. Shino smiled at the little display as the large bug headed back into the forest. He knew she'd be after the ninja in the net once they left.

Naruto threw an extra rope down to pull Hinata out of the trap. "You get the scroll?" He asked hopefully.

She held the earth scroll up unhappily. "I-it's the same as ours. W-we've still got some work ahead of u-us."

Naruto shrugged. "No biggie. Maybe we can bargain with another team that gets two heaven ones later."

As they continued further into the forest, to put a good distance between their trap and themselves, Shino spoke up, "We should set up camp soon. One of us on watch, while the other two sleep. We likely won't get a chance closer to the end."

Both Hinata and Naruto swiftly agreed. There was no way they'd be able to go 5 days without sleep. Finding a suitable tree an hour or so of silent running later, both Hinata and Shino leapt high up into the nest of branches to check it out, while Naruto was left to hunt. Pulling up moss and twigs, they soon had set up a rather cozy little camp. The 'floor' was covered in a thick layer of moss, and the sides were high enough to not risk falling out easily. The branches overhead grew naturally thick enough to shade them should it rain.

Naruto had taken off in the direction Hinata had said the river was. Going as quietly as he could, Naruto was surprised at how vulnerable he felt without the other two to watch his back. As he neared the river, which was a good 15 minute walk away from their chosen campsite, Naruto tried to figure out what they could eat. Looking around, he noticed no poor, defenseless furry animals, and no edible looking plants – not that he was an expert on such things.

Thinking hard, Naruto kept looking back at the river, and the numerous fish he could see within. Shrugging, Naruto quickly stripped to his boxers and grabbed a kunai and a stick, then tied them together with one of the numerous vines within this forest, and then leapt into one of the shallower parts of the river. Pausing until the water settled, Naruto watched as the fish started to come closer. He hoped they weren't carnivorous.

Holding his makeshift spear high, and feeling like an idiot, Naruto started to try and catch some fish. His first few attempts failed miserably, the fish being far faster than he anticipated. On the next try, he nearly got one, opening up a large scratch on its side. The next one he speared through. He paused after pulling the fish off his spear to figure out how to carry them back. Trooping out of the water, he pulled a good sized piece of bark off a nearby tree, and placed the fish on top, after making sure it was strong enough.

Splashing back into the water, and leaving his 'bucket' on the shore in easy reach, Naruto set about catching fish. It took him over an hour to catch enough, and he was sure his team had checked in on him in their own ways a few times since. He was cold, and wet, and it was dark, and he hoped they already had a fire started.

Picking up his clothes in one hand, and carefully holding his bark-plate of fish in the other, Naruto walked back to their campsite, guided by a firefly. "Thanks for the guide, Shino." Naruto yawned, handing over the fish to the quiet boy and watching the firefly fly off.

Shino just nodded a quick, "You're welcome," And got to preparing the fish. Naruto handed his mostly dry clothes over to Hinata when she asked, and she hung them up near the fire they had set up on the ground beneath their tree to dry them off and warm them up.

Naruto just huddled before the fire until he was warm and dry and Hinata said his clothes were too. He quickly got dressed, and looked hopefully at the dinner Shino and Hinata were cooking. Shino vanished out of the sight of the fire for a moment to come back about ten minutes later with some kind of plant life stacked in his arms. "These should be edible, yes Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, and pulled half of the… possibly wild carrots… out of Shino's arms and started to peel them with a kunai. Shino did the same to his half, while Naruto kept watch on the fish. Realizing they were in need of plates, Naruto found a few more pieces of bark they could use and asked Shino if anything that would eat their food was in them.

"Put the bark down in front of me." Shino stated, and as the bark was placed there, he called the bugs out. Lots and lots of bugs. Once they were all out, and Shino had relocated the lot of them to another tree, the carrots and fish were distributed onto the bark.

"Hey! This is pretty good!" Naruto smiled.

* * *

Haku finished up in the hospital for the day and went to search out Iruka, or Hayate… or any one of Naruto's friends that aren't in the exam. He needed someone to reassure him that Naruto would be fine. He could tell he was at the moment, but he couldn't help but worry for his blonde friend. It being only 3 in the afternoon, the first test had ended about an hour ago, so Iruka might be at the academy again. 

Landing on the roof of the academy, he quickly headed inside and to the correct floor and classroom. Sure enough, he found Iruka within, but there were others with him.

"Come on in, Haku." Iruka smiled.

Haku looked up at the large man also present. He wore a large black trench coat and had large scars on his face. Haku tipped his head in a small show of respect to the clearly powerful shinobi before he turned to see Hayate standing beside Iruka. "Hayate-sensei, Iruka-sensei." He softly greeted.

"Worried about Naruto too?" Hayate grinned.

Haku smiled softly and didn't bother to deny it.

"Name's Ibiki, kid. I was the proctor for the first part of the exam." Ibiki introduced.

"How'd Naruto do?" Haku questioned curiously with a smile.

All three older ninja were watching him now. "Flying colors, actually. None us can figure out how he did it." Iruka laughed.

Haku just smiled wider. "That would be telling!" He laughed brightly. "Though, I'll admit I played a part."

Ibiki questioned, "Really. You do know it's forbidden to ask for outside help, yes?"

"Ah! That's where you're wrong! Every ninja knows if they can't do something, to pass it along to one who can. Besides, I'm not really outside help." Haku serenely pointed out.

"I'll admit you're right, he didn't break any rules." Ibiki snorted in amusement. He wasn't expecting to get outsmarted by a kid. "Though, how do you not consider yourself outside help?"

"Because I'm not loyal to Konohagagure." Haku smiled, unafraid of all three stiffening. "I'm loyal to Naruto-kun. Anything he asks of me, I will do. Even if it results in my death. The Hokage knows this. Besides, just as dogs and bugs can be considered a ninja tool, so too can people."

Both Hayate and Iruka were starring at him in surprise. Ibiki was watching him curiously. "Does Naruto know this?" Iruka asked him.

"Not yet. I'm surprised he hasn't actually figured it out. I'm certain Shino and Hinata-chan may have… at least, in part." Haku stated calmly. "I intend to tell Naruto-kun when next I see him, actually. So he knows I'll help him with anything."

"Much as I hate the whole philosophy of people as tools," Hayate sighed. "You may be just what he needs in some situations. I hope he tells you, at least, about his problem. You'd likely be able to help him."

Haku smiled. "I'd certainly do all I can."

* * *

As team eight finished eating and cleaned up the evidence, they discussed who would get first watch. Naruto yawning took him out of the running, no matter how hard he tried to stifle it. "I-I can go first." Hinata offered. 

Shino nodded, and called the second shift. "Naruto, you can have the last one. It's also the shortest. We'll switch who gets to sleep the longest these first three days. I'm not sure what the last two will be like."

After a bit of arguing, they all accepted that that was the best option. Quickly climbing up into their tree camp, Hinata perched on the edge, and activated her byakugan. As Shino settled in, he and Hinata both noticed Naruto shivering. Unlike the two of them, he didn't wear a large jacket after all, just a windbreaker.

Shino shifted so he was laying back-to back with the startled blonde, and Hinata pulled off her coat and laid it over him. As Naruto tried to argue, she pointed out, "Who e-ever is on watch won't n-need the extra warmth as m-much. We can m-move around."

Naruto hesitated, but nodded in acceptance. Curling up to sleep beneath Hinata's jacket and against Shino, he wondered if this was what having siblings truly felt like.

When it was his turn for watch, Shino slipped out from behind Naruto as carefully as he could manage to let Hinata take his place. As she started do drift off to sleep, he pulled off his own jacket to lay over her.

At Naruto's turn for watch, as the sun started to turn the sky lighter, he grinned and tossed Hinata's jacket over the drifting Shino once he curled up behind Hinata. Sitting back to watch the forest and await his teammate's awakening in a few hours, Naruto mused over many things in his life. Most of his thoughts revolved around his 'family'. Hayate – his dad, Iruka – his older brother, Shino and Hinata – his siblings, Haku – his…brother? Best friend? 'older sister'? Hell, he didn't know where Haku fit into things, but he was a part of Naruto's odd family too. And Yugao may yet prove to be the mother - either by default of being Hayate's girlfriend, or by earning it by being the mother he never had.

Odd for many reasons, not the least of which being that his 'older brother' is older than his 'father', but they were his family. And he loved them for it.

As he turned to watch the sunrise, Naruto couldn't help but smile. In less than a year he went from having one person who cared about him, to having… twelve people he could consider family. Fourteen, if he counted Shino's parents. Well, Yugao, Kotetsu and Izumo weren't really family yet, just friends… but still…

Naruto couldn't remember a time when he was ever happier.


	15. Snake in the Leaves

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 15: Snake in the Leaves

A/N: The next chapter takes place after the Oro/Sasuke fight. The rating of this story was upped from T to M, because of the next chapter, and some of this one. It gets pretty violent. And a certain someone's past isn't pretty. If it doesn't deserve an M after you've read both chapters, please let me know.

* * *

Team 7 sat around recovering from the last team that attacked them. After beating the rain-nin, the cowards had run away before they could lose their scroll. They knew that team wouldn't come after them a second time. As they sat around, with Sasuke coming up with a password, deliberately making it too difficult for Kiba to remember, the Grass-nin hidden under the lake nearby listened intently. 

Sending a large snake to disrupt the group, and hopefully to eat the dog boy, the Grass-nin quickly henged into the form of the dog boy. Playing the part of Kiba rather well, the Grass-nin was able to get in close enough to start his illusion, and pull his eyelid down, trapping both Sakura and Sasuke in his killing intent, and a vicious illusion.

Seeing their deaths playing before their very eyes, both Sakura and Sasuke collapsed fearfully to the ground, shaking and wide-eyed.

Kiba, elsewhere, was dealing with a large snake that wanted to eat him. As he and Akamaru were swallowed whole, they both let out piercing howls and Akamaru peed. The combination sound and taste combo made the snake, rather hurriedly, throw them back up.

Running back to where they had been separated from the others, Kiba was thrown into the same illusion that held the other two as the snake-like man shed his 'skin'. Tossing aside the disguise of a Grass kunoichi, the snake-man, now revealed to be Orochimaru – the worst missing-nin Konoha's ever turned out - started to advance on the petrified genin.

As the large snake carefully slithered into the clearing, Orochimaru dispelled it and continued on towards the Uchiha. He'd love to _play_ around with the boy and his two weak friends for a bit, but it would have to wait until later. He could sense a massive amout of bloodlust – aimed straight and only at himself. He idly wondered if it was his dear, sweet, Anko-chan.

As he stood before the trembling trio, he smiled happily. "Greetings, Sasuke-kun. You're mine now." He purred, leaning down to bite the terrified genin on the neck, creating his curse seal. As he was being bitten, and letting lose with a tortured gurgle of pain, Sasuke barely noticed as his eyes turned red, and gained a single tomoe in each.

Sakura and Kiba sat frozen where they had been left sitting, still witnessing the terror of the illusion, even if it had ended when Orochimaru broke eye contact.

Pulling back from the twitching Uchiha, Orochimaru smiled coldly. "Give in, Sasuke. And power the likes of that which your friends will never understand will be yours."

Backing away, as the bloodlust was starting to move closer, Orochimaru leapt to the trees and took off.

Back in the clearing, Sakura watched helplessly as Sasuke thrashed and moaned after passing out. There was nothing that she could do to help him. Kiba looked torn between worry for his teammate, and watching the direction the snake-man had vanished from.

* * *

Team 8 had continued on after taking their camp down about three hours ago. Feeling a malicious chakra to their left, far closer than they would have liked, they swerved further to the right then they had planned, trying to find another team and get a heaven scroll. Their second earth scroll was hidden in Hinata's jacket. 

Feeling another burst of Chakra, full of bloodlust, near the edge of the forest to their back take off after the first one, they veered even further to the right. Sensing another two teams up ahead, Hinata activated her byakugan, and softly reported that it was the sand trio and a trio from rain.

Getting closer so they could all watch the fight, they felt fortune smile down on them at hearing Kankuro's disgusted cry after grabbing the scroll from his opponent's mutilated body. "Another heaven scroll?!"

All three members of team 8 were about to make themselves known, when Garra called out. "Whichever team's spying on us, show yourselves this instant."

Team eight spared each other a quick glance worriedly, but leapt down. They had a feeling they wouldn't be able to outrun this team even if they tried. "You again." Gaara mused, eyeing Naruto. "Where's your friend?"

It took Naruto a moment to realize he was asking about Haku. "He's a medic." Naruto swiftly explained, watching as Gaara slowly nodded. Everyone knew medics were tested and trained differently. Apprentices were like genin, novices were similar to chuunin, adepts were similar to jonin. Masters were really rare, like the legendary Tsunade. Masters could only become masters if they invented or improved a difficult or useful medical jutsu. Though medic-nin could choose to become fighters as well.

"Why are you here?" Gaara asked.

Naruto hesitated for a second. "I overheard your team has two heaven scrolls, did I hear right?"

Gaara eyed him for a moment, warily. "Yes. Why does it matter to you?"

"Would you be interested in a trade? One of our earth scrolls for one of your heaven scrolls?" Naruto questioned.

The Sand trio all looked at each other, or at least, the other two did. Gaara didn't move his eyes from Naruto's. "That would be acceptable. We don't know what the third part of the exam will be, and my teammates are rather tired." Gaara logically pointed out. It was true. The blond looked like she was standing on determination alone, and the weird boy was leaning against a tree, having seemingly given up the fight. They must have either fought a few teams, or the rain trio was hard for them.

"However, we will not trade for free." Gaara stated, just as Naruto was starting to smile. "You will spar with me. What's you name?"

Naruto blinked, rather startled. "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. And as long as it's not to the death, sure. That sand of yours looked pretty dangerous."

Much to the sand duo's shock, Garra's lips twitched into a slight smile. "Very well."

Hinata, Shino, Temari and Kankuro quickly backed away, unwilling to get caught in the crossfire. "R-Ready?" Hinata called, after a look at Temari.

As the boys slid into their chosen stances, Temari cried, "Fight!"

Launching forwards, Naruto summoned nearly twenty clones, and sent them all towards Gaara. As his sand shield came up, Naruto moaned. "It's gonna be a job and a half just to hit you, isn't it?"

Gaara smirked. "Did you really think it would be easy?"

As Naruto continued to rain blows down upon the sand, and Gaara continued to send small bursts of sand to knock him and his clones away, the quartet in the trees watched in awe as the fight grew more and more intense. As Naruto started to wield stronger attacks, Gaara continued to have fun knocking Naruto lightly out of the way… well, lightly for Gaara, meaning he wasn't aiming for it to be lethal.

As a sandstorm seemed to kick up in the clearing, however, Temari cried out fearfully. One of the two was likely to die after all.

Inside the sandstorm, the fight started to turn from playful, to lethal. Naruto quickly made note of the difference, and called out to Gaara, "What're you doing?!"

Gaara clutched his head and started to mutter quietly.

As the sand started to turn into lethal attacks and aim towards him, Naruto swiftly started to dart out of the way. Launching closer to Gaara, he struggled to get in close. Pricking his ears to hear the slightest of sounds, Naruto was startled to hear Gaara muttering something about his mother, blood, and not wanting to kill Naruto.

"Gaara, buddy, snap out of it." Naruto called uneasily.

Hearing himself called buddy, Gaara snapped his head up. "Buddy? You have no idea what I am!" A demonic chakra, gold in color, started to quickly envelop Gaara, making him rather resemble a raccoon even more.

"A jinchuuriki…?" Naruto breathed.

Hearing that one word made the demon fight even harder, angry at being caged within a human. Gaara felt tears moisten his eyes as he collapsed to his knees. "Help… me…" Gaara gasped through the pain of the demon trying to break free.

"Shit…" Naruto breathed, before surging forwards to Gaara's side. "Hold on, buddy. The fuzz ball's not the one in charge, you are! It's your body, so fight the damn demon!"

_A very young __Gaara__ sat on a swing in the nearly deserted park, clutching his teddy bear close and watching the small group of kids nearby._

_"Hey, over here!" the group of kids nearby were playing a game with a ball. "Pass!" They looked happy. They were laughing. __Gaara__ wanted to join._

_As one of the kids kicked the ball hard enough to send it atop a nearby ledge, too high for any of them to reach, they started to get upset. "Oh-! Man…" One of the kids moaned. "What are we __gonna__ do?" Another one questioned. "None of us can do the wall-climbing technique…"_

_Gaara__ called his sand to go up and get the ball. His sand obediently brought it down for him, depositing it straight into his arms, as gently as it could._

_The kids had all turned to look at him. "Y-You're…" One of the kids gasped, fearfully._

_Gaara__ stepped closer and held the ball out._

_"I-It's __Gaara__!" The kids cried out. "__Gaara__ of the Sand…"_

_Starring at him in horror for a moment, one of them broke the spell by screaming, "R-Run!!" __As he turned around and fled._

_The other kids took that as their cue and bolted as fast as they could after him, screaming in fear as they went._

_"Wait!" __Gaara__ cried out desperately. "Don't go away!!"_

_He watched, horrified, as he sand surged out to pin the child to the ground. 'I don't want to be alone anymore…'_

_As the sand started to try and pull the child closer to __its__ master, someone leaped between, causing the sand to let go of the boy and focus on them._

_"Lord __Gaara__, please calm __yourself__!" The figure __cried,__ the sand cutting into his skin in numerous places._

_Gaara__ gasped, and tried to call his sand back, succeeding after a breathless moment. He never wanted to hurt the feminine man standing before him. His strawberry blond hair having gained red streaks from blood, and blue eyes watching the young boy worriedly."__Yashamaru__…" __Gaara__ whispered. The boys were still alive, but all of them were unconscious. He didn't even realize his sand had attacked more than just the one._

"C'mon, Gaara, you can do it!" Naruto cried out, feeling his heart ache for the one so like himself.

_As a young __Gaara__ grasped the knife in his hand and slashed it towards his wrist, as fast as he could, he was unsurprised when his sand formed a barrier to protect him, even if it was from himself. He's always known it to do that. He hoped, one day, he'd be faster than the sand._

_"Lord __Gaara__… I may not look it, but I am still a member of __Suna's__ medic-__nins__, specifically the medic-__nin__ charged by __Kazekage-sama__ himself to see to your safety and well-being. Please do not engage in such behavior around me. Even if the sand protects you as well…" __Yashamaru__ smiled, the bandages around his forehead surprising __Gaara__ somewhat._

_"__Yashamaru__… I'm sorry. Your wound… does it hurt?" __Gaara__ asked, looking up at him sadly._

_"Oh, this?__ Well, just a bit… But it's only a small scratch. It'll heal in no time." __Yashamaru__ smiled, pulling his hand away from the bandages._

_"__Yashamaru__…?" __Gaara__ stammered._

_"Hmm?"__ He asked, looking curiously at the young boy._

_"What does it mean… to hurt?" He __asked,__a rather pitiful expression on his face. "I…I've never been injured, so… I was wondering what it felt like…" He looked down at the wrist he had tried to slice open earlier._

_"Well… I'm not really sure how to describe it…" __Yashamaru__ mused, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully. "It stings, sometimes it even burns, and it's uncomfortable… It's no fun, really… I can't really describe it…"_

Gaara struggled with the demon inside of him. "Why do you care so much? I barely even know you…!"

Naruto smiled, and tried to force some of the fox's chakra out. He knew he succeeded when the redhead looked at him, shocked. "'Cause, I got my own furry little problem. Those of the same feather should stick together, right buddy?"

Gaara nodded, tears springing to his eyes.

_"A wound of the body will bleed, and will most likely be visible to others. It can appear painful, but it will heal in time. Medical __jutsu__ or medicine will make it heal faster… __But…__ 'Wounds of the heart'… are extremely slow to heal." __Yashamaru__ explained._

_"Wounds of the heart?"__Gaara__ asked, startled._

_"Wounds of the heart are a bit different. They don't always get better over time. Sometimes, they fester if left alone. They may get much worse. There is no medicine or medical __jutsu__ that can heal those. Only one thing, can mend a wound of the heart." __Yashamaru __told him._

_"__What…?" __Gaara__ nearly whispered, hopeful._

_"Love."__ He smiled._

With Naruto's help, they were able to force the fuzz ball back to sleep. Collapsing on their backsides, the two looked at each other as their teammates came over. Sharing a secret smile they turned to their respective teams and asked for the extra scroll. Handing their spare to each other, Gaara asked, "How about your team accompany us to the tower? People will think twice about attacking a six-man team."

Naruto beamed. "Alright."

* * *

Team 7 was forced into carrying one of their members, still short of a scroll, to find somewhere safe to settle down and wait for Sasuke to wake up. 

Staying there until nightfall, team 7 listened to every noise in the forest with fear. With Sasuke out cold, and the two of them exhausted, they knew they were sitting ducks. Kiba and Akamaru hunted down something for them all to eat, and Sakura devised a way they could cook without giving away their position too badly.

When Kiba came back, they quickly cooked the food and ate. Taking first watch between the two of them, Kiba settled in on the edge of a root and strained his senses to listen for any other teams nearby.

The night passed uneventfully, it was the next morning that brought tragedy upon team 7. Sasuke awoke, the curse seal having spread as he slept, and he was out for blood. In lieu of anyone else in range, the crazed Uchiha went for Kiba. Sakura hadn't awoken yet, and it didn't seem like she would as Sasuke pinned Kiba to a tree by his neck.

"You only hold me back." Sasuke growled, eyes glowing with the sharingan. He continued to squeeze Kiba's neck, holding Akamaru beneath his foot. Kiba stopped caring about his own predicament as he heard bones breaking. Akamaru's bones. And pained cries from his partner. There was no way Sakura was sleeping through this on her own, Sasuke must have made her stay asleep, somehow.

"A…ka…maru!" Kiba choaked out, anguished as he heard bones break again, only this time, he felt his connection to Akamaru vanish. Akamaru had gone silent. His partner, his brother, Akamaru, was… dead.

Sasuke smirked, twisted and cold. He just squeezed tighter. Kiba struggled to free himself, and when all else failed, took a deep breath, and let out the loudest howl he was capable of. He'd be lucky if anyone heard it, but he had to try and warn somebody.

A moment later, and Kiba was dead. Sasuke let him drop to the ground, picked up Sakura, and slowly headed towards the tower.

* * *

Back in Konoha, a large black dog that resembled a wolf, with an eye patch over one eye, suddenly snapped his attention towards the forest in what could only be horror. 

"What is it, Kuromaru?" The wild looking woman asked her partner, catching the attention of the young woman with her. Her own three, grey dogs were starring at Kuromaru, having not heard what he had either.

No one but an Inuzuka would have understood what Kuromaru told them now. "It's Kiba. He called out just before… It was Sasuke Uchiha. He killed Akamaru, and then he killed… he killed Kiba."

"What…?" The young woman gasped, collapsing to her knees. The triplet grey dogs held onto her as best they could as she collapsed in tears.

"Kiba…?" The wild-looking woman whimpered, Kuromaru looking up at her sadly. "I-I have to go… Speak to the Hokage. Hana… try and find out…"

"I will, mama." The woman gasped, moving closer to the forest. Once closer, her and her four dogs were heard mournfully howling, trying to make sure their brother was dead, and, if possible, how it happened.

Sprinting for the tower with all the speed she possesed, the woman burst into the Hokage's office. "H-Hokage-sama…" She sobbed out, trying to control herself, at least for a moment longer.

"What happened, Tsume?" Sarutobi asked worriedly.

"It's Kiba. He's… He's been killed! Right before he died, he howled out a warning. It was… It was Sasuke! He killed my little pup!" She cried out, torn between the urge to find the little bastard and tear him limb from limb, and the urge to bawl her eyes out.

Sarutobi went grey. _'So that's what __Orochimaru__ was after… __Sasuke__…'_ He swallowed thickly and turned to the distraught woman. "Once you've calmed down, call your clan together and help them all get through this. As much as I'd love to let your clan take revenge as you deserve, Sasuke may have stronger allies. I fear he may have been turned against us by Orochimaru."

She swallowed but nodded. Once she was excused, she knew of one place that she was always welcome, if she couldn't go to her own clan. Letting out a quick howl to tell Hana and her partners to head home to the clan, and to not say anything yet, she landed at the gates of the Aburame compound. Once she was calmer, she'd explain Kiba's death to her clan.

Usually, her first words to whatever guards were on duty would be to tease them about how bug-like they smelled, and why couldn't they roll around in their damn flowers. Seeing the woman's clearly distraught appearance, she was immediately let in, while one guard called through the bugs to ensure Shibi was in his house.

Walking quickly down the pathway, she burst into a run at seeing Shibi out front of his house, waiting for her. Surging forwards, she collapsed into her old teammate's arms. "I-It's Kiba…!" She wailed.

* * *

Team 8 and the Sand trio launched out of the forest, and grinned at seeing the tower in the center of the clearing before them. Looking around for traps, they realized they didn't see any footsteps. They must have been the first two teams to make it! 

Sprinting through the clearing and into the tower, both teams shared triumphant grins. "Before we go any farther…" Gaara started, giving a look to shut his teammates up. "Suna and Sound are in a joint attack against Konoha. It's going to occur during the third exam. We don't know any more than that yet."

All three of team 8 looked at the trio in shock. Naruto swiftly nodded, however. "Thanks Gaara." He risked his arm to reach out and pat the stunned Suna-nin on the back. The sand didn't stop him, because he meant no harm.

"So… Now what?" Temari asked, looking around the tower curiously.

Hinata was the one to spot the plaque on the wall, and the first to read it. "I-I think we're supposed to open b-both our heaven and earth s-scrolls together." Hinata pointed out.

Shino nodded slowly. "At the same time then?" He asked, looking over at the sand trio as they moved a little ways away, so both teams stood back to back. Naruto stood just behind Hinata and Shino, who each held a scroll, and Gaara's team took the same pose, with Gaara's spot mimicking Naruto's.

"Well, here goes." Naruto grinned.

Opening both scrolls, all six gave out noises of surprise, realizing they were summoning scrolls. Hinata and Shino dropped the scrolls to the ground and stepped back behind Naruto, Kankuro and Temari mimicking them behind Gaara.

As the smoke cleared, before the worried team 8 stood the smiling Iruka. "Hey kids…! It's been a while, huh?" The one who appeared before the Sand trio was a beautiful woman with black hair, red eyes, and a red dress accentuated with lots of bandages who introduced herself as Kurenai.

"The spell was designed so that we chuunin could greet the applicants at the end of the second exam. It was just good luck that I got to be the messenger for the three of you." Iruka smiled. "You two teams made almost record time. Good job!" The sand trio looked rather surprised to be getting compliments from a leaf-nin. "Congratulations. You've all passed the second exam."

After letting them bask in their relief for a moment, Kurenai caught their attention. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you where you'll be staying for the next three days. During that time, food and water will be provided, and it is highly advised you not leave the tower. In three days, the second exam will be over and you will be taken to the location of the third exam. Getting here so early means that you will have time to recover, recuperate, and plan any strategies you may come up with, not knowing a thing about the third trial."

Leading both teams down a hallway, she stopped at the first door. "Team Hayate, this will be your room. Three bedrooms branch off of the sitting room, as well as your own kitchen. When other teams arrive, you may not wish to leave these rooms, for even though the second exam may be over, that doen't mean the danger's passed. No team can enter another team's room without permission, however. It's an old failsafe that's been on this tower for ages."

They opened their door as they heard her lead the sand trio to theirs, just down the hall. Walking inside, Naruto couldn't help but gasp. It was done all in woodsy colors, and the couches and chairs looked nearly heavenly.

Hinata took one look at her teammates, and headed for the kitchen. "I-I'll have dinner ready within t-the hour, alright?" She called back. They were all hungry, having skipped lunch by their meeting with the sand-nin.

"Thank you, Hinata! If I fall asleep, just wake me, okay?" Naruto laughed, leaping for the first couch with a moan of appreciation as he landed on the soft tan-colored material.

"We can choose our rooms after we eat." Shino agreed, claiming the matching chair. That left the other couch for Hinata, if she decided to join them while their food cooked.

Naruto yawned drowsily. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until he was being shaken awake by Shino. "Dinner's ready, Naruto."

"Okay." The blonde yawned, staggering into the kitchen.

Settling in to eat the great-smelling and looking food that Hinata placed before them, both males on the team gave their thanks to her. "N-no problem. You guys know I l-like to cook." She smiled happily back.

After eating, they quickly determined all tree rooms looked the same, so Shino took the one farthest from the kitchen, Hinata got the middle room, and Naruto took the one closest to the kitchen. Curling into bed with a smile, Naruto slipped into sleep, content in the knowledge that Iruka was proud of him.

* * *

Iruka had shunshin'd out of the tower with a smile on his face. There were quite few people who would like to know that team 8 passed, after all. His first stop was to Hayate and Yugao's. His next stop was Kotetsu and Izumo's. His third stop, and last of the night, was to Naruto's house, to give the good news to Haku. 

Not finding him there, he headed to the Hospital, the only other likely place he could be. Finding out Haku had exhausted himself helping a patient earlier; Iruka just scribbled the note down and left it where Haku would find it in the morning.

Heading home with a smile, Iruka couldn't be prouder. He was going to have a hell of a time staying a step ahead of Naruto for a while, wasn't he?


	16. Snake’s Apprentice

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 16: Snake's Apprentice

A/N: Upped the rating to M, for the violence likely to be seen later in the story, (possibly), and in this chapter. Anko doesn't have a pretty past, and you're gonna get a few glimpses into it. If it should still be rated T, let me know please. I'm not good at figuring out the ratings. But I'm almost certain this chap should be M. and wow, I'm amazed I wrote the Oro/Anko scene… And now I have to go back and re-plan chapter 17 and on for the third time. If this chap doesn't need an M, let me know please!

* * *

As the first day had ended, the proctors were told to check out the edges of the forest, near the gate for any fatalities. Anko, Kotetsu and Izumo, happened to be sent into one such area. Coming to a stop on a branch, they looked down sadly. Three ninja, the Grass-nins who goaded Anko on, if she wasn't mistaken. All three of them looked rather mutilated from the trio's high vantage point. 

They leapt to the ground to get a better look, and Izumo cursed. "Anko, does this look familiar to you?"

Anko quickly made her way over to the corpse Izumo was inspecting as she heard Kotetsu inform her that the other two were the same. Crouching down, she felt her breath catch in her throat as she starred at the corpse. Its face was melted off in a rather precise manner. It's features were almost completely smooth. All three were able to list only one person who would bother with such a thing. Orochimaru.

"That- That BASTARD!! That goddamned, cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake licking, dirt eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-assed, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotted lipped, worm headed, sack of monkey **SHIT**! I'm gonna_ find_ him, and I'm gonna_ tear_ him _limb_ from _bloody **limb**_!!!" Anko roared, leaping to her feet as she quickly figured out in which direction he likely was. Wasn't as hard as she would have feared it was, she could taste terror and smell snake coming from a certain section of the forest rather easily.

Taking off before either Kotetsu or Izumo could follow her, she left them watching each other worriedly for a moment, before they both bolted back to the village. They needed to let the Hokage know. And hopefully, they'd be able to send Anko some backup. Kotetsu couldn't help but commit the rant from Anko to memory. That was great.

Anko continued to nearly fly through the forest after her old sensei. She couldn't wait to tear him apart!

_"Come with me. You'll do." The snake-like man informed her. Her! The only one who failed that year in the __academy.__Failed because she liked to pick fights with the older kids. __Her, without a bloodline.__ This powerful man wanted her as his apprentice!_

_"__Hai __Orochimaru-sama__!"__ She quickly chirped, darting after him._

As Anko tried to shake her head to clear it, and keep after Orochimaru, she knew, like every time before, that her memories would not leave her alone.

_"Not good enough." Her sensei stated calmly, turning away from the distraught young girl. _

_"B-But sensei!__ I-I-" The young Anko cried._

_Her sensei didn't even bother to look at her as he started to walk away, her dinner in his hand. It looked like she'd be going hungry again._

Hitting the next branch, and leaping to the next, she continued to search for her own, personal Anti-Christ.

_"I… I love you sensei." The nearly 15 year old Anko whispered._

_Orochimaru__ whipped around so fast, his hair billowed around him in a way that never failed to make the young girl's heart skip a beat. "Really now…" He purred deeply, prowling towards her._

_"__Hai__, sensei."__ She gasped, watching him come ever closer._

She valiantly tried to stop the flow of memories before the next one, to no avail. However, she never let her path deviate from hunting the monster down.

_Anko collapsed, gasping breathlessly, trembling, flushed and smiling. "Sensei…" She breathed out awed._

_Her sensei, naked between her thighs, smirked down at her, causing her heart to skip a beat. As he swooped back down to her already sore neck from numerous nips from him, she shuddered. As his fangs nipped the tender flesh like the other times, she shivered and let loose a moan. As the fangs slid inside her neck after a moment, she whimpered. That bite actually hurt. _

_As the seconds ticked by, it more than hurt.__ It burned, and started to envelop her whole body. As she blacked out from the pain, crying in anguish, she had a vague realization that __Orochimaru__ was still inside her._

Anko snarled at the memory. Reaching up to grip her curse seal, Anko cursed him out again. She really had loved the bastard at one point. What would have been the happiest day of her life, had become her worst nightmare, once his fangs bit her. She knew the sick bastard had gotten off on her torment, as more than twelve hours later, when next she came to, he had still been buried inside her, a smirk on his lips, and seemed to have passed out at some point earlier.

Sensing her prey growing closer, Anko forced her body into moving even faster. Ever since the night he left, her sole goal in life was to hunt him down, and kill him. Everything else, came second.

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" Izumo yelled, leaping through the window. The Hokage gave him a worried look. Izumo is almost never seen without Kotetsu, and is nearly never known to raise his voice. 

"Yes Izumo?" The Hokage quickly asked, shutting the mouth of the councilman with his own hand when the man refused to stop blathering.

"It's Orochimaru, sir! He's in the Forest of death, and has already killed one team that we know of! Anko has taken off after him, but I'm not sure if she'll be enough!" Izumo gasped. He didn't think he's ever moved so fast in his life.

The Hokage paled. "Call up the ANBU, have them scout the forest, but do not let them interfere with the exam if it can be avoided. Kill Orochimaru on sight, and bring Anko back alive."

"Sir!" Izumo gasped, launching back out the window.

Kotetsu, meanwhile, went to tell other certain people. Tearing through ANBU headquarters, he caused more than a few startled looks. He was, after all, a chuunin. Making it to a specific, unmarked office, he quickly burst through the door, and darted out of the way of the first barrage of kunai. "Ibiki, Oro-bastard's in the forest. Anko went after him."

Getting his message out, Kotetsu turned and left ANBU HQ, just as Izumo burst in to call the ANBU to arms on the Hokage's orders.

Continuing, Kotetsu landed before the startled Hayate. "Hayate, I hate to worry you, but you deserve to know. Orochimaru has been discovered in the forest, the ANBU and Anko are after him now."

Hayate swallowed thickly. "Anything I can do?"

Kotetsu just shook his head. "No, everyone under chuunin level will be asked to guard the village, like you're already doing. Take care."

Kotetsu quickly took off to find Izumo.

* * *

She caught sight of Orochimaru, and with a single-mindedness of iron took off after him. She worried slightly over his rather smug expression, even as she triumphed over his look of surprise as she caught up with him. Spinning into a kick, she tossed him into a tree with all the strength she could manage. 

Watching him get up and laugh at her only made her angrier. "Get over here you crazy, bloody, coward!" She roared, charging again.

He easily caught her wrist and threw her into the tree he had been thrown into. Turning and pinning her body against the tree with his own, he laughed. "Doesn't this position look familiar, Anko-dear?"

She snarled and fought him like a wildcat. Most of her intelligence having left her for sheer, desperate strength, and animalistic instincts. As she managed to bite him in the arm hard enough to draw blood, he gave a startled noise, and pulled back enough for her to shove her knee in a rather sensitive area. He gasped, but came back with a punch that made her teeth rattle as she was once more thrown against the tree.

Getting to her feet and leaping to another branch, she snarled at him, grabbing three kunai in each hand, held between her fingers as she closed her fist around them, miming claws. Launching towards him, claws first, she was unsurprised that she missed, turning too fast for him to realize, however, she scored a shallow hit along his side. Screaming obscenities as she was once more batted aside, Anko launched again.

As he darted out of the way, and called a fireball straight for her, she made her choice. Calling a quick water technique to soak herself, she darted through the fireball, crying out in pain as it burned her. Hitting the other side, she was able to lob a kunai straight through the bastard's thigh and grinned triumphantly, as she leapt to the side.

"You're unlike other ninja it seems, eh Anko-chan? Instead of getting sloppy in your rage, you get dangerous." He purred, quickly launching a barrage of kunai at the crazed kunoichi. He idly wondered if her current state would be permanent after the fight was over.

She let loose an animalistic scream of fury, and launched for him again. He tried to dodge, but she had anticipated correctly in which way he would try, and bounced off the tree to land on the bastard's back, a kunai embedded in each of his shoulderblades. He cried out in pain, and tried all he could to dislodge her as she used her teeth to tear into him. His neck was covered in blood, and she took great pleasure in twisting the kunai.

Insane and powerful though he may be, he knew when he was outmatched. He would hesitate to use his stronger attacks, because he wished to live. He knew she was the most dangerous opponent he could face- she didn't care if she died, and had nothing to lose.

Twisting to slam his back against the tree, hard enough to hear a bone or two break in the kunoichi's body, he knew he was in deep trouble, when all she did was cry out, and fight harder. His arms were nearly useless after the damage she had done to his shoulders, and his neck felt like it was torn in strips. She kept biting and tearing into his neck as well, likely trying to reach the jugular in order to kill him. He was beginning to feel faint from bloodloss and his numerous injuries, and the kunai in his thigh felt like it might even be poisoned.

He didn't bother with words, she may not even understand him by this point, but struggled to use his arms at least once more. Summoning one of his rather large snakes, not Manda, not for this, he commanded it to eat the girl on his back. Eat her, or pry her off at least.

Hearing another primal scream from her, he was shocked when three of the massive white tigers of the forest answered her call – and attacked his snake. Realizing that her fighting style was similar to theirs, he was terrified to note that she had emulated, and likely formed a pact with, the giant tigers – much as he had with the snakes.

Twisting to try and force her off by ramming into a sharp branch, he felt the spill of blood down his side as she let loose another animalistic cry. He was beginning to get rather worried here. His own sensei Sarutobi, would likely not be able to harm him as much as this one girl he had deemed a failure. Realizing that she wouldn't let go until he was dead, he quickly tried to come up with a plan.

Launching into branch after branch at what must have been her head, he preyed that she would let go. His arms were now completely useless, and he likely had rather large holes in his shoulder blades. He could feel the kunai grinding against the bone and knew if he didn't free himself soon, he likely would die here.

Anko held on with everything she had, no matter how much pain she was in, all over, she held on. Biting frantically at his neck, and using the kunai to dig deeper, she prayed that she would kill him soon. She didn't know how much longer she could go on like this. She was feeling faint from the blood loss from the wound in her side, and could feel blood dribbling down from her head as well.

Screaming in outrage as her muscles started to weaken, she put her last bit of strength into one ditch effort. Throwing her weight behind her, and taking Orochimaru down as well, she threw them from the branches, and twisted so he cushioned her fall. Letting go of the kunai to sit back, she unleashed a vicious lightning jutsu into the holes in his back.

Hearing his tortured scream, she couldn't help but grin wildly and laugh her triumph. Feeling his pulse slowing, she jolted him again, and a third time. Feeling him feebly trying to continue to fight her off, she gleefully roasted what remained of him. His tortured scream was heard clear back to the village.

* * *

The ANBU unit spread throughout the forest. One particular team of four was lead by Morino Ibiki, who was determined to find his little wildcat. Hearing the first scream, animalistic, feminine, and furious, he knew it was Anko. 

Running swiftly in the direction of the screams, the whole company nearly lost their footing at hearing a deafening, tortured scream. Adding an extra burst of speed, they shot into the clearing as the smoke began to clear. Holding his breath and preying that Anko wasn't the one who smelled of roasted flesh, Ibiki waited for the smoke to clear with baited breath.

As it cleared, the ANBU all took a step back at seeing the bloody, bruised mess that was Anko, sitting upon the roasted remains of Orochimaru with a crazed smile on her face, giggling away. "Anko…?" Ibiki asked worriedly.

She just giggled louder. "I got 'im!" She sang. As her strength began to wane, she looked up at Ibiki, still looking rather crazed, though it had faded slightly. "I got 'im."

As she collapsed in exhaustion and blood loss, Ibiki quickly scooped her up and bolted back for the village. He had to get her to a medic, then report to the Hokage. He knew the ANBU would deal with Orochimaru.

* * *

Ibiki continued his silent vigil, watching Anko, hopeful for signs of her awakening. The medics had healed her of everything. Now, all they had to do was wait for her to wake up, and hope her mind was undamaged. 

He had been sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair for the past three hours. He had brought her into the hospital more than six hours ago. It took more than two to patch her back up, and his meeting with the Hokage lasted for the first three hours.

Shifting once more in his chair, he was amused to watch another ninja dart into her room to leave flowers before darting out again. Anko'll have a fit realizing how many were in the room. He thought it was quite amusing, actually. Amusing, and sad. So many of the village hated her for being the snake's apprentice, and feared her for it too. Now, they see her as a hero, almost for the same reason. Being trained by him likely gave her the edge needed to kill him.

As she stirred slightly on the bed, he held his breath hopefully. A second later, she slid back into her dreams, whatever they may be. Leaning back into his uncomfortable hospital chair, Ibiki couldn't stop the memories of the first time he had seen her.

_It was bad. The third Hokage had just passed on word to them that __Orochimaru__ had betrayed them all. That he performed inhuman experiments, and was the one behind all the recent disappearances._

_He had just been made into an interrogation specialist amongst the ANBU ranks less than a year ago, and he was wondering worriedly if he'd have to interrogate his first Konoha-__nin__. He may hate traitors, but it didn't make it any easier when it w__as the face of someone you knew. As two ANBU dragged someone in, they passed on the __Hokage's__ orders, along with their burden. __"The Snake's apprentice, sir.__ The Hokage wishes to know of her allegiance."_

_"I've already told you my fucking allegiance! The bastard left me behind, he tortured me! I have no allegiance to him!!" __The dirty, bloody, young… woman? __Yelled._

_Ibiki quickly strapped her to the chair, and dismissed the other two. Leaving to grab a bucket of water and a cloth, he came back to wipe the mud, blood, and who knew what else, from the girl's face. She was glaring at him, but she wasn't swearing anymore, and he considered that an improvement. Her purple-grey eyes nearly burned, and he was astounded to realize he didn't have the strength to meet them a second time._

_"Name?"__ He intoned, after grabbing his clipboard._

_She hesitated a moment, seemingly weighing her options. After the way he saw the ANBU treat her, whether she was guilty or not, she would be wary. __"Anko. __Mitarashi__ Anko."_

_He nodded, and continued to question her. She answered everything he asked in the easier questions without a fight. Age, when she became his apprentice, what was the first thing he taught her… It was when he asked for a rundown of her time with him that she clammed up, quivering, and glaring at him. He had to torture her, then. __To get information.__ Though he stuck to the psychological, and tried to guess what she was hiding until she broke down and explained._

_By the end of his session with her, she had proven to him that she was loyal to Konoha. And he, in turn, had passed that assessment along to the Hokage. Even after she left, he was unable to get her beautiful, haunting eyes out of his head._

Shaking his head to clear it, Ibiki went back to watching his little wildcat.

* * *

Haku washed his hands of blood as he shook with exhaustion. The Hospital had wanted to tire as few medics as possible, so himself and two others were worked to exhaustion saving Anko's life. Haku had never had to deal with such extensive injuries before; Zabuza-san had never gotten that injured. Not untill he died, anyway. 

The other two medics had washed their hands, and then passed out on empty beds nearby. Haku was a little surprised he outlasted medics who have likely worked for at least ten years inside a hospital, but shrugged it off as another of the little odd things he's slowly made note of about himself.

Staggering into the hallway, Haku made his way quickly to the room they had left their patient in. As he walked in the doorway, he was rather startled to see Ibiki there, but went over to check Anko's vitals to ensure everything had healed as it should.

"Are you one of the ones who healed her?" Ibiki asked. To his credit, he tried not to sound too incredulous.

"Hai." Haku yawned. "Myself and two others. The hospital didn't wish to tire too many of us, incase we were needed later."

Ibiki slightly nodded. "So, how is she?"

"Physically, she's fine. Mentally, from what I heard from the ANBU, I'm not sure. She may be alright when she wakes up, she may be worse. She may even be more stable than she had been. It's hard to tell, but if she isn't alright, we could always try and have one of the Yamanaka family try and heal her mind, though from what I've heard, that's rather risky." Haku softly explained.

Ibiki sighed and nodded. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Haku smiled weakly, and turned and left to find his own bed to pass out on.

* * *

As Anko's eyes fluttered open, Ibiki held his breath. "'Biki? I got 'im, right?" She yawned. 

"Yes, you killed him, Anko." Ibiki said softly.

She burst into a grin. "Good. Kiss me?"

Ibiki smirked, and leaned in to do so. Just as Anko was beginning to be rather glad to be alive, they heard a laugh from the doorway and pulled apart to see who the visitor was. "Hokage-sama!" Both yelped, blushing in embarrassment.

He just laughed again. "No need to be embarrassed, you two. Anko, you've done a very brave, and noble deed this day, and you will be commended for it after the exam. Until then, we're going to be keeping Orochimaru's death a secret – see if we can smoke his followers out and find out what they're after."

Both Anko and Ibiki nodded. The plan made sense. His followers would likely attack Konoha, letting them do so now, however, meant that they were unprepared for Konoha to fight back. Especially if they don't notice their leader missing. "Yes sir, that sounds like a good plan." Ibiki grinned.

That was about the time Anko looked around her hospital room. "What the fuck?! What's with the flowers?!" Anko shrieked.

Both the men burst into laughter. "I think everyone within ANBU dropped in at least once, Anko." Ibiki laughed.

She groaned. "Damn. I hate flowers." She grumbled, glaring at the bright, colorful things. The men laughed even harder at her pouting and grumbling.

* * *

Kotetsu and Izumo were the two only non-ANBU who knew of the outcome of Anko going after the snake. They thought that they should let Hayate in on at least the part about him no longer being a threat to his students. 

Tired though they may be after their patrol around the borders of the forest of death, they set to tracking down Hayate. Spotting him a few roofs over, they both darted over to him as swift as they could. "Hayate!" Kotetsu called over.

Hayate finished his leap to the next rooftop, and turned to look over in surprise. "Kotetsu? Izumo? What happened now?"

Both laughed weakly as they landed beside him, Izumo collapsing onto the ground, and Kotetsu gasping for air. "Your students are safe. The snake's out of the forest." Kotetsu gasped out.

He nodded slowly, clearly trying to decipher the message. "Thank you."

"No problem. Just don't go passin' that around, hmm?" Kotetsu laughed.

Hayate nodded.

* * *

Iruka paced in his classroom as he watched the kids write their essays on ninja, past and present, that they admire. The young ninja in the class, all first-years having just started last month, were rowdy, rambunctious, loud, and terrified of him, due to his short temper lately. He was far too worried about Naruto to try and pay an entire class full of kids as much attention as he should. 

Thinking about Naruto's words the last time they met, Iruka smiled.

_"I'm bound to make chuunin as soon as I can, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto grinned._

_"Why's that?" He asked curiously, finishing his ramen and ordering Naruto another bowl._

_"Because!__ Catching up to you puts me one step closer to becoming Hokage, big brother!" Naruto chirped, seemingly not noticing the stunned look that slid across __Iruka's__ face._

Iruka smiled even wider. _'Big brother, hmm?__ I can't let him surpass me__ too fast__ then…'_ He mused, walking back over to his desk and picking up the lone sheet of paper there. _'I won't even apply until the chuunin exams are over, both for a better chance and to not be too worried about Naruto.' _Looking intently at the sheet of paper, Iruka knew his course was set. _'You can become Hokage, little brother. But I'll be there to guard you.' _Letting the piece of paper flutter back down to his desk as he turned to the class, the words 'Jonin Exam Application' was written along the top of the paper. At the bottom, Iruka had already signed his name.


	17. The Escape

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 17: The Escape

Sasuke continued his slow trek to the tower. He barely seemed to even notice the weight of Sakura slung over his shoulder. Exuding the purple-black chakra of the curse-seal, not a single team seemed to wish to confront the cold Uchiha – not that any got close enough to see him in such a state.

He continued on at his slow pace, seemingly uncaring that he had only two more days to traverse the rest of the forest, he continued his slow march, knocking Sakura out again whenever she started to stir.

* * *

Yawning drowsily, Naruto stretched and slid out of bed. Walking into the living room, he asked the same question he had the last two mornings he had woken up there. "Is the second test done yet?" 

Hinata laughed as Naruto slipped into 'his' chair in the kitchen. "I-It will be at 9 am, Naruto-kun."

Even Shino couldn't help a soft chuckle as that answer woke the boy suffering from cabin-fever up. "Good! It's so _boring_ in here!"

All three members of team 8 had to agree to that assessment. They had asked Naruto yesterday if he would explain the secret about him, but he had stammered out a request to wait until Haku was there, so he could tell all three of them at once, so he wouldn't have to explain it over and over again. Once, he said, would be bad enough.

* * *

Anko, released from the hospital the day before, couldn't help the odd wince and grasp at her neck. Ever since she killed that bastard, her curse-seal's been acting up, worse than it had when he was alive. But why? 

Shaking herself free of such thoughts, she continued back to the tower, where the Third had asked her to be. Darting in through the front doors, she cursed the fact that all the windows were too small for even her to shimmy through. Weaving her way up through the numerous hallways, floors and passageways to the room she was directed to be at, she walked in and sank gratefully onto the couch, gripping her curse mark with another hiss of pain.

"You alright there, Anko?" Kotetsu asked worriedly, flanking the couch on the left, while Izumo took the right. Looking over, she watched the Third walk in.

"Is your curse mark still bothering you Anko?" Sarutobi asked, curious and worried.

Anko blushed, ashamed at her weakness as she sat up straighter. "Yes, but… I don't understand why…"

"Hmm… Once would think after… certain events… that your mark would vanish, or at least not hurt. I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you on that one Anko." The old man sighed.

"That's alright my lord. What did you wish to see me for?" She questioned.

"To announce how many teams passed your exam, of course." The third laughed.

She almost visibly perked up, as Sarutobi wandered over to a small screen and turned it on. "Report." Sarutobi smiled at the ninja visible in the small box.

"It's confirmed. Six teams have passed the second exam… that's 18 applicants. In accordance with the by-laws governing the chuunin exams, for the first time in five years, we'll be scheduling preliminary rounds for the third examination. The second examination is officially over." The ninja reported.

"Now, who was goin' soft Anko? We still need to cut the numbers down!" Kotetsu laughed, as she leapt onto the back of the couch and tried to smack him.

"Very well." Sarutobi smiled, ignoring the sounds of a mini-war the three behind him were producing.

* * *

"Congratulations to all of you… for passing the second exam!" Anko yelled out, looking over the contestants. The jonin and chuunin around her looked out over their students, and possible future colleagues, with pride. There were also medic-nin watching, and Naruto grinned upon noticing Haku standing beside Hayate. 

_'Where's __Sasuke__?'_ Kakashi mused, even going so far as to lower his book and skim his gaze over the contestants again. _'Oh well, I guess he can try again next year.__ He must have just headed home to sulk for a bit. I'll check in on him sometime after the preliminaries.__'_ He pulled his orange book back up to continue reading.

The sand trio and Kabuto were the ones to most notice the absence of the sound trio's instructor. Turning to regard Kabuto, the sand siblings were rather worried by his unconcerned shrug. It wasn't unlike Orochimaru to change his plans on a moments notice if a better idea came along. They wanted to know what the plan was so they could warn their new friend.

Naruto spared a glance over at Gaara and was rather taken-aback by the redhead's nearly dead expression. He looked… like a calm version of what Naruto expected he looked like when he was fighting off his demon earlier. It was actually kind of creepy, and Naruto was beginning to suspect there was more to Gaara than he previously thought. _'Note to self: Find out how and why he's different from me.'_

"Now, Hokage-sama himself will explain about the third exam. Listen up, and take every word he says to heart!!" Anko yelled out, watching most of the group jump out of their thoughts. "They're all yours, my lord."

"Very well." Sarutobi smiled, stepping forwards to explain. "The third examination is about to commence… but before I go into the specifics of how it will be conducted… let me make one thing perfectly clear!" Looking around at the confused genin, he continued. "It pertains to the underlying purpose of the exam. Why do you suppose an examination of this nature is being jointly conducted by all of the nations in our mutual alliance?! 'To promote friendship among allied nations and raise the level and standards of the art of the shinobi…' Be very clear about what those fine-sounding phrases actually mean! This series of so-called examinations is, in fact…"

The Hokage sighed, looking up at the genin pointedly. "…A war in miniature between all of our allied lands. If you were to study our recent history – and consult a map – it would swiftly become apparent that our alliance is, in fact… a temporary and mutually beneficial agreement between a group of geographically contiguous lands… whose previous existence was one of constant strife… constantly jockeying against one another, openly and in secret, for power and the control of resources that were perpetually depleted almost to exhaustion in the struggle… Until a better way was devised… the way of the chuunin journeyman ninja selection examination…!"

As the genin started to question and make a small uproar, The Hokage cut them off and continued explaining. "Make no mistake. When this exam is done, it will have had the side effect… of winnowing out any applicants unfit to ascend to the level of chuunin. But even more importantly… it serves as an arena wherein, for the honor of their respective homelands… young shinobi may fight… to the death if need be! This third examination will be conducted under the eyes of a number of distinguished guests… including the rulers and nobility of the various lands you all aspire to serve. And among their number will be those who rule over each country's own hidden ninja villages. They will be watching you."

The third continued to explain, looking graver than most have seen him. "If any one nation's applicants demonstrate outstanding skill and superiority… the noblemen from every land will be quick to commission work from those trained in that superior nation. Conversely, if a particular country's applicants are shown to be incompetent or feeble… commissions to agents of that country will dwindle. And when one land is strong in battle… and the village coffers overflow with the fruits of the many outside commissions this begets… then that village may say to it's neighbors, 'Beware, for we possess prowess and riches and the influence of political power'!"

The Third added the last part of his explanation. "The strength of a country is derived from the strength of its village… and the village draws strength from the shinobi who live there… and the strength of those shinobi… only emerges in the midst of a desperate life-and death battle! These exams provide a public arena for each country to show off and boast the strength of its warriors… and hence the strength of the country itself! This test has great meaning and great consequence. As you struggle for the sake of your very lives and your people, you help to fulfill the dream that was envisioned by your ancestors."

Tenten called out, "But… you've always emphasized the concept of 'friendship' …why?!"

The Hokage sighed softly before answering. "Though my meaning is subtle, I choose my words with care. To preserve the balance of power at the risk of lives… is the essence of friendship in the world of shinobi. Let me reiterate before the third exam begins… You are taking no ordinary test! You risk not only your own futures and your dreams… but the dignity and prestige of your home village as well."

"Could you wrap up the philosophical talk and get down to the life-and-death stuff any time soon?" Gaara coldly asked.

"Hmph! So, you insist I explain the third exam? Well… the truth is…" The Hokage started.

The woman in the red dress and bandages that greeted the sand team back at the tower stepped forwards. "Forgive my interruption, sir. But, if you don't mind handing the rest of the proceedings over… to myself, Yuuhi Kurenai, proctor of the third exam?"

"Go ahead." The Hokage granted, stepping back.

"Alright. My name's Yuuhi Kurenai. Good to see so many of you passed, however, that does pose a problem. Since so many of you have passed, we have to hold a preliminary to the exam proper. Depending on how well you perform in the preliminaries, will determine if you will compete in the third exam."

"Preliminaries…?! Like what?!" Shikamaru yelped angrily.

"I don't really wish to say the first two exams weren't demanding enough…" She smirked suddenly, feeling the combined glares of Ibiki, Anko, Kotetsu and Izumo burning a hole in her back. "But the truth is, we still have too many applicants. Under the traditional rules of the exam, we have to have a preliminary test… to reduce the number of applicants who'll proceed to the third exam. As lord Hokage mentioned, a number of honored guests will be observing you during the third exam… so we must make sure the exam is intense, tight, and fast-paced. Now that you know about that, anyone who doesn't feel up to the challenge, either physically or mentally, can walk away. Just take one step forward… because the preliminaries start… right now!"

"Now?!" Naruto heard Ino shriek out behind him.

Looking to his teammates, Naruto was unsurprised to see them both already looking at him with determination. "Right. Let's do this." He growled under his breath.

"Well… I'm outta here." The silver-haired youth who explained things earlier to team 7 with his chakra-cards proclaimed, stepping forwards. Most of the genin gave him slightly startled looks as he laughed lightly.

"Yakushi Kabuto of Konoha, correct? Alright, you can go." Kurenai intoned, swiftly marking something down in the small book she held. "In case I forgot to mention, from here on out, it's all individual. So if you back out, your team can keep going. Anyone else want out?"

"Well, there's a familiar face, eh?" Anko snorted. "If memory serves me, this is about the same point at which he dropped out last time… I wonder… what on earth could he be thinking?" Noticing she had gained the Hokage's attention, she continued. "Yakushi Kabuto… according to his dossier… he's tried and failed six times now."

"What sort of record has he got?" Sarutobi asked.

"Ordinary… unremarkable. In his academy days, he was an average student, earning mediocre grades… it took him three attempts to pass his finals and graduate. Since then, he's completed two C-ranked and 14 D-ranked missions. There's nothing noteworthy in the records of any of his battles… except…" She hesitated.

"Except…?" The Hokage prompted.

"…Except for something that happened before he even entered the academy. Do you remember hearing the tale… of a young boy who was brought back from that battle at Kikyo Pass?" Anko questioned.

"I do… yes… If I remember correctly, the story was that a jonin elite ninja of the medic-nins… took in an enemy youth who had survived on the battlefield."

As Kabuto walked out of the arena, and then the building, Kurenai turned to the rest of the competitors. "Looks like no one else is bailing, hmm?"

Looking around to ensure there were no last minute requests to bail out, Kurenai explained. "Well then, we'll now begin the preliminaries… Which will consist of individual combat matches, as through this will be part of a tournament. As there are an uneven number of 17 applicants, so one lucky genin will get a free pass to the third exam. There will be a total of 8 matches in the preliminaries. The victors will proceed to the third exam. This is a no-holds barred combat. Each pair of combatants will fight until one of them is dead or unconscious… or admits defeat. As soon as you realize you're outmatched, concede your loss… If you value your life. Since we don't want a total bloodbath here, there may be cases where we may determine there is an undisputed winner and I'll have to step in to end the match. But don't count on it."

* * *

Kabuto kept up a calm pace as he walked until he was out of the lived in areas, then took off for the forest of death like a bat outta Hell. Once he saw the tower, he sped up even faster, and soon landed before the doors curiously. He had trailed the strongest sense of Orochimaru's power to here, now all he had to do was find him, and learn his new orders. 

As the doors opened behind him, Kabuto turned around and walked inside, looking around for his master curiously. Feeling his master's chakra pulse again, he whirled around to see the Uchiha his master was obsessed with, leaning against the wall with a pink-haired girl at his feet. _'His curse mark is so much stronger than any I've ever seen… what are you planning, master?'_

"You are Kabuto, correct? Spy for Orochimaru?" Sasuke questioned.

Kabuto eyed him warily.

Sasuke tilted his head to the side to show his curse marking. "He told me he could make me stronger."

Kabuto smirked. "And the girl?"

"I need to recreate my clan somehow, don't I?" Sasuke smirked back.

"Very well. Come with me then, and I'll lead you to Otogakure. Orochimaru-sama's base of operations… and the place his followers call 'home'." Kabuto chuckled.

* * *

As the paneling retracted into the wall, an electronic scoreboard was revealed. "At the start of every round, we will display the names of the two combatants competing in that match. Not to hurry you all to your deaths," Kurenai smirked, "But let's get this started." 

As the names shot passed, the genin held their breath. "Misumi and Yoroi. You're up." Kurenai called out. "Any objections?"

"None at all." One of them said. The other just said a calm, "No."

"Very well then, Will everyone else please clear the arena?" Kurenai stated.

Naruto shrugged, and leapt into the stands, Hinata and Shino following him. Haku and Hayate quickly made their way over as well. Since none of the group knew either of the competitors, they thought this was a good time to settle into their seats, relax, and talk. At least, until one of them were called down.

The blonde from Suna, Temari if Naruto remembered correctly, came running over almost immediately. "Any hope you can talk to Gaara again? In his more lucid moments, he's been asking about you."

* * *

_'I guess… it still doesn't work….' A young __Gaara__ sniffled, looking down at his shaking hands. 'Why… am I such a monster?! What… Am I…__'_

_Gaara__ slumped forwards and whimpered out, "__Yashamaru__…" The sadness and anguish in his voice should never be heard from a living creature, much less a young boy._

_Feeling his sand surge up and create a barrier behind him, __Gaara__ turned around sharply, watching as another barrage of kunai was thrown at him. __'…__What__ …Why?!' he sniffled, getting angry. '__Why me…?!! **Always me**__!!'_

_As the kunai came ever closer to the young boy, the sand both created a shield for him, and attacked the assassin. Watching as his assailant was thrown back against the side of the building, __Gaara__ crept closer, wanting to know who attacked him, and hopefully to find out why._

_Creeping closer, he reached out with shaking hands and grabbed the mask, pulling it off. __"__Yasha-Yashamaru__?!"__Gaara__ sobbed, throwing back his head to scream out in anguish. _

_As he slumped forwards, sobbing in pain, he rasped out, "Why…__"_

_His beloved uncle, splattered with his own blood, turned to look at him sadly. "It was an order. I was… commissioned to kill you. __By your father…__Kazekage-sama__…"_

_Gaara__ froze in horror, before doubling over to throw up. He couldn't have stopped crying by this point if his life depended on it. "Why… why would… why would father…?"_

_"You, lord __Gaara__… in whom the __Shukaku__ was implanted while you were still in the womb… Had been watched over and guarded until now as an experimental subject. However, if you cannot learn to control the sand that is the power of the __Shukaku__ wraith… you will eventually become too dangerous for the village. So it was decided…" __Yashamaru__ painfully explained._

_"Then… Then you didn't have a choice, __Yashamaru__… You had to carry out father's order…" __Gaara__ whimpered, with such a look of hope that it tore __Yashamaru's__ heart in two._

_"No… that's not entirely true….I certainly did receive an order from __Kazekage-sama__… however… I probably could have refused it… I did love you, Lord __Gaara__… I still do… You're my nephew… a memento of my beloved older sister… But I also resented you… resented you for taking my sister's life away… She had never wanted to have another child… let alone the one __Shukaku__ would be placed inside… She was sacrificed for this village… and she died cursing this place…" __Yashamaru__ coughed out._

_Gaara__ was starring at __Yashamaru__ in horror. "__Yashamaru__…__"_

_"Oh __Gaara__… If only…" __Yashamaru__ sobbed out softly. "I thought I hated you… Your father truly convinced me I did… But if I hated you… why would it hurt so much, just to see you cry…?"_

_Gaara__ looked at __Yashamaru__ in shock. _

_"Run from this place __Gaara__… I don't have much time left… But I don't want to be the one… to have to kill you!" __Yashamaru__ sobbed, pulling his jonin vest open to reveal the small mountain of smoking explosive tags taped around his chest. "Run…!"_

_Gaara__ sat there, starring into __Yashamaru's__ tear-filled eyes, as the explosive tags went off, and __Yashamaru__ became nothing more than blood splattered across the entire rooftop. Gaara's sand, however, protected him from the blast. Sobbing in anguish, __Gaara__ almost didn't notice as the sand carved the kanji for love into his left temple. His sanity was split that night, and not much of the boy __Yashamaru__ had loved, remained._

"Gaara, you alright?" Naruto questioned, catching Gaara's attention. He heard both his siblings' startled gasp that twice in one week he was lucid enough not to kill all that moved.

"Naruto… How…?" Gaara asked, unsure how to vocalize what he meant.

"I think something wonky was done to your seal. I never even knew about my own fuzz ball until someone told me, but I'll do what I can, alright?" Naruto smiled. "For now, how's just talking sound? I'll try and think up what I can, okay?"

Gaara swallowed thickly, and nodded.

* * *

In the large clearing in the center of the circle of houses that make up the Inuzuka compound, what seemed to be every member of the canine clan was assembled before their alpha female, Inuzuka Tsume. Her husband, their former alpha male, had been killed on a mission years prior. 

Tsume looked painfully out over her kinsmen. Kuromaru at her side. Hana burst into fresh tears at realizing why her mother was standing before the clan on what should have been a happy occasion. '_Kiba should have been competing to become a chuunin, not…'_

"My fellow Inuzuka. Something awful has happened to two members of our clan. To two of my own pups. Kiba and Akamaru have been murdered." Tsume called out, in as steady and calm a voice as she could manage.

Seeing the stunned expressions, she continued. "They were murdered in the second examination of the chuunin exam. They were murdered by their own teammate. By team 7's beta, Uchiha Sasuke."

The outcry that comment caused was nearly deafening. Hana and her three dogs were sobbing pitifully, and a few narby Inuzuka were trying to calm the proud woman down.

"Will we stand for this?!" Tsume cried out angrily.

"No!" Was howled by Inuzuka and dog alike.

"We will have the Uchiha's head for this!" Tsume continued.

Her kinsmen cried out loudly in agreement.

"We will demand their alpha, Hatake Kakashi, to give us a **damn **good explanation for how this could have happened!" Tsume roared.

At the deafening agreement, Tsume woofed sadly. Once it was quieter, she asked sadly, "Now, who will come with me to retrieve our fallen?"

* * *

A small group of people sat assembled out in the flower gardens that make up the impressive array of color within the primarily green Aburame compound. What seemed like every member of the small clan all sat around in the grass, surrounded by the flowers, and most of the bugs in what must have been all of Konoha. 

"Shibi? What have we all been called here for?" One of the Aburame questioned.

"An heir to a clan has been murdered," Shibi started. "By another Konoha ninja."

"What?" Was gasped out by more than one person. The other main question was, "Who?"

"Young Inuzuka Kiba was the one so brutally murdered. Himself, and his canine partner." Shibi stated, looking around. "I only know what I do because of the fact that his mother, Inuzuka Tsume, had been on my team as genin. You all know we stayed best friends since. She came to me in tears earlier and explained what she knew, and between the two of us, we pieced most of the rest together."

Here, Shibi's wife Tanya took over the explanation. "It seems Uchiha Sasuke was attacked by the S-class ranked missing-nin, Orochimaru. What was done to him, is unknown, but after a period of unconsciousness, in which Kiba carried him so the team could keep moving, they set up camp. Some point early that morning, Sasuke awoke, and pinned Kiba to a tree, choking the life out of him. He had Akamaru pinned beneath his foot. He kept Kiba alive long enough to make the poor boy witness his partner's death."

Sharing a grim look with a few of the others, while the rest winced, she sighed, and continued. "After making Kiba witness Akamaru's death, he was too slow to stop Kiba from howling out what had happened. Just as Kiba finished his message, near as we can tell, Sasuke broke his neck. It is unclear, however, whether he died from suffocation and then had his neck broken, or if he died from a broken neck."

The Aburames dissolved into speaking furiously about what to do about this. They had been allies, if not friends, to the Inuzuka for generations. Having similar bloodlines – bugs inside their bodies, or a canine outside – they had always worked well. Putting an Inuzuka and an Aburame on the same team was long thought to be one of the best tracking and reconnaissance combos the village was capable of.

Shibi listened to the various arguments, comments, and questions, and finally spoke. "We will wait to see what the Inuzuka wish to do. Whatever it may be, I propose we aid them."

* * *

Naruto had spoken to Gaara for most of the match, and was finally told by the redhead to go sit with his team, after offering up his thanks. Naruto seemed to have a calming effect on Gaara's mentality. Naruto had joked that maybe it was because Kyuubi out-matched the Shukaku. Gaara thought he might be on to something with that theory. 

Settling in with his team and friends to watch the match, Naruto couldn't help but be in slight shock by how brutal they were being.

"Naruto-kun?" Haku called softly.

Naruto turned to look curiously at his older friend. "Yeah Haku?"

"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now, since I realized you never figured it out on your own." Haku smiled serenely, sliding down so he was kneeling before the startled Naruto, while Hinata, Shino and Hayate were watching curiously. "I am your weapon, Naruto-kun. Your tool. I am your assassin, your medic. I am whatever you need of me. All you need do is ask, and I will do whatever you ask. My powers, my life, is yours."

Naruto squeaked, starring down at his friend in shock. "I-I… Haku…" Naruto stammered, finally, he just reached down and hugged his startled friend. "I don't want you to be my weapon, or my tool, or anything else along those lines." Naruto sniffed. "I'd like it if you were my friend though."

Haku blinked, rather surprised, for a moment, his head over Naruto's shoulder. Haku then burst into a brilliant smile. "I am your friend Naruto. But I am all those other things too. Anything, just ask, and I will do it."

Hayate and his other two students shared amused grins for the sweet scene. Turning curiously as they heard startled gasps from the rest of the audience, as Naruto and Haku continued to 'argue', the other three members of team 8 witnessed the two combatants blowing each other apart.

In the silence that followed, Haku and Naruto quieted their 'argument' over whether Haku was or was not allowed to give his life up for Naruto, to listen to what was going on back in the arena. After a breathless moment, Kurenai stepped forwards, her eyes on the scoreboard. "The next match will be… Zaku vs. Shino. Please report down to the arena."


	18. Promises

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 18: Promises

In the silence that ensued after Kurenai's announcing the next two combatants, Haku and Naruto stood up to watch the fight. "You can do it Shino!" Naruto called out, just as Shino leapt down. His opponent was standing there, waiting for him.

"Alright everyone, it's time for the second match. Begin!" Kurenai called, leaping back.

Zaku almost immediately leapt at Shino, who simply stood there and held up an arm to counter his attack. Watching his opponents' other hand swing up, and the hole within his palm, Shino was unprepared for the attack of sound that launched him back a few feet.

_'So, that's how it works. He expells air- sound - through the holes in his palms to nor only blow an opponent back, but to disorient them. The energy for such an attack must be converted from chakra somewhere in his body...' _Shino mused quickly as he flew. Letting himself hit a little hard, Shino smirked lightly in the dust it caused. His bugs were already hard at work, doing the strategy he asked of them. Some have already eaten into Zaku's chakra pathways, others were lightly swarming out of his skin. The most of the rest of his slowly growing hive, was creeping up behind the unaware Zaku.

"There's no way you'll survive a fight against me. Surrender now – I'm the worst opponent you could have drawn." Shino calmly stated.

Zaku sneered, and flung both arms out, preparing another blast in both arms. He had a moment of confusion – his attack was delayed a split second, and his arms were starting to hurt – before he discovered the hard way what Shino's real plan was.

As the pressure swiftly built, then imploded, Zaku screamed as both his arms were blown off beneath the elbow, where the energy built up to be released from his hands. As Zaku staggered and charged at Shino, Shino swiftly spun around and clubbed him on the side of the head with one arm, calling his kikaichu back.

As Zaku fell to the ground, coughing and gasping, Kurenai stepped in. "Winner- Shino!"

Zaku was swiftly loaded onto a stretcher, along with both of his arms, and taken to the hospital.

Shino calmly leapt up onto the stands where his team waited for him. "That was… brutal…" Naruto breathed, shocked.

"No Naruto-kun. That was how ninja fight. We are supposed to take every advantage given to us, and use it to our advantage. Even if it means to kill." Haku softly explained.

"B-but..." Naruto stammered.

"I'll explain in more detail some other time Naruto-kun." Haku smiled softly. "Just enjoy the matches."

"Alright..." Naruto said hesitantly.

"Next match: Ino vs. Temari!" They heard Kurenai yell.

"Hey, Hayate-sensei? That reminds me…" Naruto started, making sure he had his instructor's attention. "Gaara said that the Sound and Sand were planning an invasion, they just don't know when yet."

Hayate looked at Naruto, startled for a moment, before nodding. "Thank you for telling me this, Naruto. I've got to go speak to the Hokage." He quickly leapt off to do just that.

"Guys…?" Naruto questioned.

Once Hinata, Shino and Haku had turned their attention from the arena, where Ino was getting tossed around like a rag doll, Naruto continued. "As soon as we get a chance, and can find somewhere secure to talk… I'll tell you guys the secret about me. Alright?" Naruto asked, worriedly.

"Alright, N-Naruto." Hinata smiled. Haku nodded.

"So long as there's no reason why we shouldn't, we can meet up at my place. No-one save Aburame come anywhere near our compound, and everyone of my family but me knows whatever it is." Shino softly pitched in.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "That could work. Thanks Shino!"

"And after, we can see if you can all stay for lunch, or dinner, whatever's closer." Shino added, much to Naruto's delight.

"Winner: Temari!" Kurenai was heard, as Hayate returned to them.

"I have no idea what all the Hokage has on his mind, but he was looking grim even before I got there. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, alright? Something's going on. Something he can't announce, likely because of all the foreigners. If it's any kind of trouble, we can't breathe a word of it around representatives from other countries, for fear they would chose to attack. So look and listen hard, but tell no-one but myself if you learn anything, alright?" Hayate asked worriedly. "I don't like the feel of this…"

All four nodded.

"Next fight: Shikamaru vs. Kin!" Kurenai was heard calling out.

* * *

Kabuto blinked as he looked over curiously to spot a sound-nin sleeping beneath a tree at one of the check-points Orochimaru-sama had marked before he went to get a closer look at Konoha. Walking closer, he saw the ninja held a letter addressed to himself. 

Reaching down and snatching it away, he couldn't help a disgusted snort. '_Anyone could have come by, and…!__'_

Opening up the letter, Kabuto felt his confusion swirl. It's not often Orochimaru makes new plans without telling him.

"What's the delay for!" Sasuke growled, dropping Sakura so he could knock the girl out again.

"You keep doing that, you're likely to wipe her memory, you realize." Kabuto grinned back at the enraged youth. He still couldn't understand the boy. The curse seal is in it's inactive state, and yet he's got the strength of at least level one, and the temper to match.

"That's part of the plan." Sasuke snorted. "She'll fight less if I tell her what she wants to hear, especially without memories to go against it."

Kabuto rolled his eyes. "Anyways, there's been a slight change in Orochimaru-sama's plans. Apparently, he wants to infiltrate Konoha himself, to have a look around and better the attack plans. He also wants to wait for whenever the third exam is held."

"Then what about my training?!" Sasuke snarled.

"Relax. You're no-where near Orochimaru in terms of skill. Myself and the sound four can start you off until we receive new orders." Kabuto snorted. "Orochimaru-sama did demand we make you as ready as possible if he's unavailable at any point to do so."

"Fine. Let's keep moving then, I want as far away from that stupid village as possible." Sasuke growled.

"How did you know I was an agent of Orochimaru's anyway?" Kabuto questioned as they continued on.

Sasuke's eyes gleamed strangely as he snorted. "_He_ told me."

* * *

"Winner: Shikamaru!" Kurenai said, startled. He had looked like he planned to give up right there near the end, until the sound girl said something. 

"Nice work, Shika!" Asuma was heard calling down.

"Next match: Naruto vs. Tenten!" Kurenai yelled out.

"Aw man! She's the one that likes to turn people into pincushions, isn't she?" Naruto sighed, causing his team to burst out laughing. Naruto leapt down to the arena once the girl with brown hair done up in twin buns from fuzzy-brow's team was already waiting.

Naruto flashed her his trademark foxy grin, as she narrowed her eyes at him. Kurenai started to back off to call the match as Tenten taunted, "Care to get your butt whipped, blondie?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Fight!" Kurenai called, finishing her escape.

Naruto instantly called up his kage bunshins, not a moment too soon. Where Naruto had been standing, there was a barrage of kunai. The hundred kage bunshins spread out throughout the arena caused many gasps from his fellow chuunin-wannabe's. Even more bunshins, unknown to anyone yet, had become hundreds of shuriken, kunai, and giant shuriken. Others still, had their copy of Naruto's sword drawn.

As Tenten swirled around, and unleashed one of her summoning weapon scrolls, and tried to take down as many Naruto's as possible, the clones were tossing all their weaponry at the grinning girl faster than she could dispel them. All in all, it was a veritable rain of weaponry, with the occasional justu from one combatant or the other thrown in, usually kawarimi, to get out of the direct line of fire.

The best part was that no-one knew where the real Naruto was. He was able to watch her, analyze her main ways of attack, defense, and evasion. Not to mention he was tiring her out. She could only last so long. Not many have the stamina to keep going like he does.

"That really all you got? I'd heard you were dangerous!" One of Naruto's clones laughed, making her focus in on that one. She was smiling, however. Not many give her such a fun fight.

Destroying the clone that teased her, she moaned, as three more pitched in at the same time. Continuing with the exchange of deadly projectiles, Naruto slowly began to make his way closer. He was in the form of one of the many kunai being flung around. Tossed from clone, to clone, he was getting ever closer to the unsuspecting kunoichi.

The crazy girl was still unrolling scroll after scroll of weapons to fling around. Kurenai had long since leapt into the stands for her own protection. Most of the ninja were watching the fight in amazement. Not often would you find a fight of this type to last so long without a fatal injury.

Tossed to the next clone once more, Naruto knew it would only be a few more moments. She was tiring as he watched.

As he was tossed to another clone, Naruto got himself thrown straight for the exhausted kunoichi as she tried to leap out of the way again. He flew passed her in kunai form, and then used a variation of the trick he used on Zabuza. He dropped the henge just as he passed her, and unsheathed his sword. Twisting in midair, he whirled around and smacked her upside the head with the blunt side, hit the ground, twirled around, and pinned her. Sword across her neck, his other hand holding her arms behind her back, and her feet forced to keep her balance – before he forced her to kneel.

As the smoke and dust settled from that last maneuver, loud cheers were heard as Tenten gasped for breath. "Good fight blondie." Tenten laughed breathlessly.

"You too." Naruto grinned.

"Winner: Naruto!" Kurenai yelled, gingerly leaping to the arena. "Just get rid of the weapons please."

Both laughed, as Naruto dropped his clones amidst amazed noises. Not a single weapon he threw was real. Tenten blushed and called her own back into their summoning scrolls.

Naruto quickly leapt up to his team, to squawk as he was playfully fluffed by a grinning Hayate. "Nice work Naruto!" Hayate laughed.

Naruto reached up to run his hand through his hair with an amused pout as Hinata and Haku giggled.

"Next match: Hinata vs. Neji!" Kurenai cried out. Hinata went white.

Neji quickly leapt down to the arena, and looked up at her calmly. Hinata knew her father and younger sister had entered the stands at some point, and she really didn't want to be in this match…

"Go get 'im Hinata!" Naruto grinned.

Hinata looked back at the proud expressions on her teammate's faces and nodded. Leaping down, she looked calmly at Neji and waited for the match to start.

"I never dreamed we'd find ourselves fighting each other… Lady Hinata." Neji chuckled coldly.

"Neji-nii-san." Hinata sighed, standing up straight from her instinctive slouch. She could see the slight surprise on his face as she actually stood up straight against him, but he shrugged it off.

"Fight!" Kurenai cried, leaping away from the arena.

When explaining how her byakugan worked to her teammates, Hinata had also explained a bit about her family. She knew her team knew this would be hard on her. She also knew that they were cheering her on.

"Before we begin… There's something I have to point out to you, Lady Hinata." Neji smirked. "You're not cut out to be a shinobi. Withdraw from the match!"

Hinata blinked, startled. _'What?!'_She gasped mentally. "No way! I'm not the s-same way you remember Neji-nii-san!" She quickly shifted her stance into her usual taijutsu style, and flashed a quick grin up at her teammates while most of the people started questioning each other on when she grew a backbone.

As Neji snarled and activated the byakugan, Hinata did the same, causing even her father to make a noise of surprise. "Well, Neji-nee-san? Aren't we g-going to f-fight?"

"Very well, Hinata-sama. But I warn you, I see your own defeat!" Neji snarled.

Up in the stands, various people were wondering about the changes in the young Hyuuga.

_'What has happened to Hinata? When did she start to actually act like a __Hyuuga__?'_ Hiashi wondered.

"Father, what's happened to the weakling?" Hanabi questioned, watching her older sister.

"Gai-sensei, I thought Neji always said her fires of youth were barely a spark?" Lee asked.

"It would seem your youthful teammate did a very unyouthful thing, Lee. He judged her based on something she did in the past, and never bothered to revise the opinion." Gai answered, looking over curiously to Kakashi. _'I thought he nominated his team and they made it to the second test. What happened after that, my rival?'_

Leaping towards each other, Hinata and Neji went head to head in their family's taijutsu style, the jyuuken. As they twisted, dodged and tried to hit each other, they both tried to find an opening they could actually use to gain a hit.

A few moments in, Hinata spotted her chance, and shot in for it. Launching in, she was able to get him on the side, just beneath his rib-cage, seconds before he pulled back. Continuing their brutal dance, Hinata soon found a second opening, and closed another of his chakra points around his ribcage, intending on slowing him down, again, still forced to rely on the ones she's memorized, as she still couldn't see the points.

Withdrawing for another brutal few moments of blocking each other's strikes, they clashed again. Surging forwards to clash for the third time, Hinata felt her eyes widen. She coughed up blood as she felt the chakra flowing around her heart slow down painfully. Pulling back with a pained gasp, Hinata shook off the pain as best as she could, and surged in for another try.

Her eyes opened wider when she realized she could now see not only the chakra points, but the chakra pathways as well. Twisting around Neji's next strike, she closed a chakra point on his shoulder, as he hit another on her outstretched arm.

"Stop trying to struggle, Hinata-sama. I can see the tenketsu." Neji smirked.

"Yeah?" She coughed, smirking slightly as she freed her arm for another hit. "So can I!" She quickly hit his arm again, trying to disable at least one of his arms for a better chance. He may be willing to use fatal hits, but she refused too.

He twisted around before she could get away and hit her hard in the chest, aggravating the hit he gave her heart earlier, and sending her back a few feet to land on her back.

Staggering to her feet again, Hinata nearly collapsed as she coughed up more blood.

"You can do it Hinata!!" Naruto yelled down.

"Hang in there!" Haku cried out loudly.

"We're all rooting for you!" Hayate added proudly.

"Take him down." Shino growled.

Staggering forwards, she put all her strength into one last charge. Dodging under his next attack, she twirled up and got him upside the head, flooding what chakra she could spare into the hit to try and put him off balance.

"Not good enough. Is this the strength of the Main Branch? Pathetic." Neji snarled, twisting around and trying to hit her again.

_'One last shot…!'_ Hinata gasped, twirling into her imperfect kaiten which caused an absolute uproar. No-one thought she could perform that, even an imperfect version, especially without any training. She's only ever seen it performed once, unlike Neji who's watched her own father numerous times.

Her kaiten threw Neji off balance enough for her to smack him a few more times, but she knew that she was tiring fast. Leaping back to try and catch her breath, she watched fearfully as Neji followed her to slam her hard in the chest again.

Sending her sprawling, Hinata lay hard on the ground.

"Seeing this match cannot go on-" Kurenai started.

"Don't stop it yet!" Hinata cried out defiantly, staggering once more to her feet, surprising everyone.

"You're not fooling anyone. I can see it takes all the strength you have just to stand!" Neji snarled, rather angry she's so close to catching up to him.

_'She's stronger than anyone ever gave her credit for. She's stronger than even __Hanabi__…'_ Hiashi gaped as he watched her. Hanabi, sitting beside him, looked nearly murderous.

Surging forwards, Neji launched once more at Hinata.

"Stop Neji! This match is over!" Kurenai yelled, leaping forwards to stop the crazed youth. Hayate stood between Hinata and Neji, while Kurenai held his outstretched hand. Gai had his arms around his student and was bodily holding him back.

"Hinata!!" Naruto cried out as she collapsed coughing behind the worried Hayate. He turned around just as the medics got to her as well. Naruto, Shino and Haku landed beside Hinata. "Haku…" Naruto questioned.

"I'll look after her, Naruto-kun. I'll come find you when we're done." Haku agreed, standing up to go and help the medics to heal her.

"Hey… Hey, You! Mr. Failure!" Naji called out, after shaking out of the grip of the ones who held him. "A couple of words of advice. A true shinobi warrior would have too much class to make a spectacle of himself by cheering during a serious match. And one more thing…" Neji sneered, turning to walk away. "You may as well accept who you are. Once a failure, always a failure!"

"Wanna bet, dumbass!?" Naruto cried out fiercely. He went to charge when he was held in place by Lee.

"I understand almost painfully well what you're feeling Naruto! But… We have to limit our battles to the confines of the scheduled fights. Having seen this failure and defeat strike down and defeat a genius through sheer force of will… it really makes you look forwards to the final rounds, eh…? Even though his opponent could very well be me! But even if it's you in the finals, Naruto… I'll have no regrets!" Lee explained fiercely, turning to give Naruto the 'nice guy' pose.

"Alright Lee." Naruto said calming down.

Stepping over to where Hinata had lain, he dropped to a crouch to trail his fingers in Hinata's blood, in a gesture his team would all recognize. Gai and Lee, the main ones who had held Neji back and kept Naruto from thinking of charging the arrogant prick, watched him in shock.

Naruto stood, his hand closed into a fist and dripping with Hinata's blood and looked straight at Neji. "I hope you and I face each other in the finals you arrogant prick! Because I vow… To win!!"

Seeing Neji sneer and head back up to his place in the stands, Naruto growled, but let Hayate cleam his hand off while Shino and himself lead him back up to their spot in the stands. Surprisingly, Gai and Lee followed them up as the next match was announced.

"Next match: Dosu vs. Chouji!" Kurenai called out.

"Are you really alright, Naruto?" Lee questioned as they took their seats.

"As good as I can be until Haku comes back with word of how Hinata's doing." Naruto sighed.

"I've seen your friend around before. Who is she?" Lee asked.

As always, the mistake brought a smile to Naruto's lips. "He. His name is Haku. He's a medic, and likely around jonin class already. Maybe only chuunin. He was an unaffiliated ninja – raised outside a village - before we brought him back here. He never actually got anything but his medic skills tested yet. And he's an Adept Medic, which, if I remember right, is jonin-level in ijutsu."

"Wow!" Lee gaped. Whether it was over the fact that Haku was male, or his strength as a medic was unknown. "So, he's likely stronger than most of the lot of us competing, then, right?"

"Possibly. His taijutsu skills still need a lot of work, but with his kekkai genkai, he'd be able to take Neji on without breaking a sweat." Shino smirked, most likely imagining that fight.

Naruto too, bloomed into a smile at the thought of Haku handing Neji his ass on an icy platter.

"He was a missing-nin?" Gai questioned. "Why was no-one warned to keep an eye on him?"

"Because, the Hokage set everything up so his parole would be over before these exams. That, and wishing to be a medic made the Hokage test his loyalties as best as he could in so short a time." Hayate smiled. "It's no secret to the Hokage, that Haku holds no loyalty for the village. He does, however, hold immense loyalty to Naruto."

Gai blinked. "And he gets away with that?"

"Yes. Because so long as Naruto's still Naruto, and wants to become Hokage, Haku, too, is loyal to the village through Naruto. And with the way the villagers treat Naruto…" Hayate sighed.

"…Everything that could make his life easier, and make him hate the village less, is at least given thought." Gai finished sadly, flicking his gaze to the blond who was energetically explaining something to the equally energetic Lee. Shino looked like he was slowly trying to edge away from the both of them, and Hayate started to chuckle.

"You can do it Chouji!" Ino screamed down to her teammate, startling most of the team from their thoughts.

* * *

Kakashi decided to leave the arena not long after the Hyuuga battle. Not wanting to stick around to hear his rival's gloating if Lee were to win his match, he decided to leave and walk through the streets of Konoha, reading his Icha Icha Paradise. 

The Inuzuka clan, having invited most of the Aburame over to discuss options, looked up almost as one at scenting Kakashi coming their way.

Tsume softly started snarling orders, and had one of her cousins walk out of the compound to invite Kakashi in.

"Yes, Inuzuka-san?" Kakashi questioned calmly as he walked in, yelping in surprise when he was forced down and tied with chakra and rope to a chair. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Alpha of team 7, I have some questions for you." Tsume snarled, stepping forwards. His book was ripped out of his hands and torn to shreds by another Inuzuka.

"About what?" He asked warily, also noticing the Aburame clan members scattered around as well. He'd be worried more for his book, if he didn't suddently fear for his life.

"About why your damn beta killed my sons!" Tsume snarled.

That caused Kakashi's visible eye to widen in shock. "W-What?"

"Your beta, Sasuke, killed both Kiba and Akamaru during the second part of the chuunin exam. How could you let this happen?!" Hana cried out angrily.

"I-I don't… I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kakashi gasped. _'Oh kami, __Sasuke, what have you done...?'_

* * *

Naruto yawned and stretched. "Never knew Chouji could fight so hard." Naruto snorted, torn between amusement, or disgust. It was kinda sad – he was holding his own against the Sound-nin, however, he was more or less a meaty bowling ball trying to squish the Sound-nin. It'll likely come down to whoever tires out first. 

Lee was grinning, however. "You can win Chouji! Show him what you've got!" Lee helped Ino cheer the boy on.

"Naruto." Hayate started, making sure he had the blonde's attention. "After the preliminaries, you'll all have a one month break until the third exam. In that time, I'm hoping to procure for you and the rest of the team sufficient tutors. Being as you took up the art of the sword, I will be one of yours. One of the first things I'll likely teach you over the course of the month is my 'dance of the crescent moon'. Alright?"

Naruto'e eyes were huge. "Yes!" He gasped out, stunned and joyful.

"Gai, Lee, I was hoping to ask if you two would be willing to give some extra training to Naruto, Shino and Haku?" Hayate asked, turning to look at the taijutsu specialists.

"No problem! Lee, you'll have some new youthful sparring partners soon!" Gai laughed happily.

"Yosh!" Lee grinned. "Don't worry Naruto! By the time we're done with you three, you'll all be even more youthful!"

Naruto smiled weakly. "We don't need to wear the spandex, do we?"

"No!" Hayate quickly agreed. "I'm sorry Gai, but wearing such things will not be beneficial to my students." Hayate quickly covered, looking at Gai. "With their individual styles, the extra layers they already wear actually help them."

"Alright. But they'll still need weights!" Gai grinned.

"Fine by me." Hayate grinned.

"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm doomed?" Naruto asked quietly to Shino, while the other three discussed their upcoming training.

"Because we likely are." Shino sighed.

"Winner: Dosu!" Kurenai yelled, as the exhausted Chouji was led from the arena on a stretcher.

There were only three competitors left, and breath was held to see which of the three would fight, of Lee, Gaara, and Kankuro.


	19. Judgment

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 19: Judgment

Kurenai didn't bother leaping down to the arena this time. The first of the competitors were already there. Gaara, the redhead from Suna, stood in a swirl of sand, looking coldly up at his competition – Lee. "Don't keep me waiting." Gara coldly demanded.

"Next match: Gaara vs. Lee! That means Kankuro gets the free pass to the next round!" Kurenai called down, watching Lee worriedly.

"Yosh!" Lee grinned happily.

"Be careful Lee. His mentality isn't exactly stable." Naruto worriedly warned him. "Get out if it gets too bad."

He saw Lee hesitate, Gai sharply nodded. "Use your judgment Lee. If I think it's getting too bad, I'll leap in and stop it too."

Lee sharply nodded. "Yes, sir!" He grabbed the railing and swung down to the arena. Landing, Lee stood up with a smile to look Gaara straight in the eye. "Facing you so soon… makes me very happy! This should be a good fight!"

"Hmph." Gaara snorted.

Lee slid into his ready stance as Gaara launched the cork from his gourd at him. Lee easily caught it, and said, "Please… don't rush things."

Gaara smirked as Kurenai called out, "Begin!"

Lee leapt for Gaara, and twisted around to swing a kick at him, and made a startled noise at being knocked from the sky and sent sprawling by a wave of sand. Twisting around to land on his feet, he couldn't help but watch in amazement at the sand took to swirling lightly around his opponent.

Leaping in, time after time, he was upset that he was always thwarted from connecting his hits with anything more than the sand, about a foot away from Gaara himself. Twisting away from his latest attack, Lee leapt atop the statue of the twin hands near the back of the arena, atop the highest finger.

"Lee! Take them off!" Gai yelled down.

"B-But Gai-sensei! You said never do that unless I was defending the lives of people who are precious to me!!" Lee yelled up, surprised, at he crouched down on his perch.

"It's alright!! I'll allow it!!!" Gai called back, giving the 'nice guy' pose.

Lee smiled joyfully, and reached down to take off his orange leg warmers. Slipping them off revealed the weights strapped to his calves and he quickly pulled those off too.

"…Weights?" Naruto questioned.

"Yup. Like I'll be putting whatever members of your team are given to me, up to using." Gai grinned.

"Why doesn't he just use ninjutsu?" Shino questioned. "Against an opponent such as this, ninjutsu would be a far more effective strategy."

"Because Lee has almost no chakra." Gai said, catching both Naruto and Shino's attention. "He was born without working chakra coils, and thus, can use nothing but taijutsu or kenjutsu, though he chose, like myself, to specialize in taijutsu."

Dropping the weights, Lee stood up happily. "Right!! Now I can move freely!!" As the weights hit the ground, amazed cries were heard at the noise and the dust kicked up. As the dust cleared, there were two rather large-sized craters with his discarded weights in the center.

"I'm gonna die… But I'm gonna smile while I'm doing so." Naruto grinned wildly. Shino nodded, sending both Gai and Hayate into laughter.

"Go Lee!!" Gai cried out.

"Yes, sir!!" Lee called back, vanishing from his perch, and appearing behind Gaara. His punch nearly connected, but it was stopped by the sand, a mere centimeter away from his face. Twisting and lashing out a few more times, Lee was thwarted by the sand, only an inch away from his target every time. Gaara was actually beginning to look a little worried.

Twisting around and leaping, Gaara lost sight of Lee once more. Twisting in the air, Lee hurtled down fast enough to beat the sand, and kicked Gaara hard on the way down and sliced open Gaara's cheek with his foot.

Gaara staggered back to his feet, an angry expression slipping across his face, as his sand swirled menacingly around him on the ground.

Lee landed and skidded back, grinning happily. "Well… Here we go!" getting into his ready stance again, mid-slide, he readied for his next attack.

"Lee!! Now… Explode!!!" Gai called down.

"Yes, sir!!" Lee cried back, vanishing from where he stood and going so fast as to leave Gaara staring, stunned, at an afterimage behind him, while Lee leapt in from the front. Slugging him for all he was worth, Lee caused Gaara to fly back, hard, and land on his side.

Staggering to his feet, sand started to slip off of Gaara, as numerous people in the audience started to murmur worriedly. Standing up, Gaara's ploy was discovered, as the sand encasing his whole body like armor was discovered. Some parts of it chipped off, some slid like the sand it is, but either way, Gaara was revealed to be smiling manically.

"Uh oh. Gai-sensei, I think Gaara's gone crazy again." Naruto said softly.

"Lee can handle it." Gai said proudly.

"No, I mean… Gaara's not really fighting to win anymore. He'll kill Lee if he gets the chance now. You didn't see what he did to those rain-nin in the second exam…" Naruto swallowed, not taking his eyes from the fight.

"And you're sure of this?" Gai questioned, still assured his student would be fine, but listening now, and watching the match far more closely.

"Positive. He's like me… but crazy." Naruto softly added.

Gai froze, mid-breath. "Jinchuuriki…" He breathed, so silently Naruto barely even heard him.

"Yeah… But something's wrong with him. His inner fuzzy can take control of him." Naruto quietly answered.

Gai swallowed. "Thank you for warning me, Naruto. If it gets too bad out there…"

"I'll help you stop it. Shukaku seems to be unwilling to piss me off." Naruto agreed. Gai flashed a grim smile as he watched the fight continue to unfold.

Gaara quickly called his sand armor to cover him once more. Lee quickly slid into his ready pose as Gaara asked coldly, "Is that all…?"

Lee looked up to his sensei and grinned at seeing his nod. Unraveling his arm wrappings a little bit, he flew for Gaara, launching in a circle around Gaara so fast, that the suna-nin wouldn't even likely see his after images, to confuse him as to which direction he'll be coming from. After about a circle and a half, Lee launched forwards, dropped, and twisted into throwing all his weight and strength upwards into the kick beneath Gaara's jaw, launching him high into the air.

Leaping up after him, he brutally kicked him all the way up, twisting around once they were at the height of Gaara's jump, Lee wrapped him in his bandages, and launched him in a twirl for the ground, holding onto him the whole way.

As the smoke cleared, revealing Gaara in a rather large crater, everyone believed Lee had won. Watching the sand armor crack caused a few gasps of amazement, and outright cries as the face fell inwards to reveal an empty shell.

Lee looked behind him in shock as a shadow fell over him, turning fully to witness Gaara crouching behind him, and a great wall of sand barreling straight for him. As the first wave hit, Lee was sent flying back into the wall with a pained whimper, though he quickly dropped into a crouch and braced himself for the next wave.

As the second wave of sand fell away, it revealed Lee, battered and bleeding lightly from the corner of his mouth, crouched within a rather large dent in the wall. Gaara licked his lips as he advanced on the fallen leaf-nin.

Flicking out with an arm of sand, Gaara easily tossed Lee to the side, sending him sprawling again.

"Gai…?" Naruto questioned, wondering why Lee suddently seemed so tired.

Gai hesitated, before admitting, "The Lotus is a forbidden art, Naruto. The strain using such high-speed fighting will put on the body without the training to back it up; will leave you as a mass of pain when it's through."

_Kids ran around the track behind the academy, in rows of two, trying to stay in formation as were the teacher's orders. _

_One laughed nearby a younger Lee, wearing a white Chinese style shirt, and black pants, along with the typical black ninja sandals. His hair was in a bowl cut and had a small thick braid at the back. __"You idiot!__ There's no way you'll ever be a ninja!"_

_Another one smirked. __"Yeah.__ How could someone who can't even use __ninjutsu__ hope to become a ninja?"_

_Lee just kept running as he stated proudly, "But… I will!!!"_

_The boy running right beside him got a mean grin on his face. "You're not capable of anything but taijutsu… and you're even mediocre at that! What were they thinking, letting you into the ninja academy?" Lee turned his head aside and tried to ignore the idiot. "Want to know what the other kids call you?"_

_Lee slapped his hands over his ears and bolted past the class, some of whom were yelling for him to get back in line._

_Gai__ stood at the window of the academy watching the kids. "So that's the kid they're all gossiping about… __The little **hothead** __who couldn't!"_

Lee hit the ground hard and rolled with another whimper of pain.

_"Now that you've finally become genin… I want to hear all about your goals!" __Gai__ grinned at his new genin team._

_"I don't want to say." __A young __Neji__ snorted, turning his head aside._

_"I want to become a strong kunoichi like my idol… the legendary __of the __sannin__, Tsunade-__hime__!" A younger __Tenten__ grinned._

_"Master!"__ A young Lee, having lost the braid, called out proudly. "I want to prove that even a person who can't use __ninjutsu__ or __genjutsu__… can still become a splendid ninja! It's my only goal!!"_

_As young __Neji__ snorted, athe young Lee whipped around to demand what was so funny._

Lee slid from his sprawl into a crouch, crossing his arms before him to fend off another wave of sand frantically.

_A young Lee lay doing pushups on the ground. "Okay… if 500 consecutive pushups __doesn't__ make me strong enough, then I'll do 1200 double-skips with the jump rope…"_

_Gai__ watched from behind a tree as his young student continued his brutal training._

_Staggering from his pushups, he grabbed the jump rope. "And if 1200 double-skips don't do it, then I'll kick the wooden practice dummy 2000 times!"_

_'…1116, 1117… Whoa…' __Gai__ gaped, still watching._

_Lee tripped hard over the jump rope, and was sent slamming head-first into the training log. Gravity then pulled him face-first into the ground. Lee started to quietly cry._

_Gai__ decided to make his presence known. "So, Lee… Taking a break already?"_

_Lee quickly got back to his feet, holding the training log for balance as he swallowed back his tears and kept his back to his sensei.__ "Did you… need me for something, __Gai__-sensei? If it's about the blunder I made during the last mission, I thought I'd already made it up to you!" He backed away from the log to start to kick it hard on the side._

_Gai__ quietly watched him for a moment, before stating, "You know… You really are very different from __Neji__… You're no genius at __ninjutsu__ or __genjutsu__… and you really aren't a taijutsu virtuoso, either. Nevertheless, Lee… There's one area where you completely surpass __Neji__. You're a genius of another kind with great hidden potential."_

_Still kicking the practice log, Lee called back angrily, "You're just saying that to be nice!!"_

_"I'm not trying to be nice. I'm just saying… that you are…" __Gai__ smiled, "**a genius of hard work**__."_

_"…Do you really… mean that?" Le questioned softly. "I-I've only been able to make it this far… __By having faith that, if I trained two or three times as hard as __Neji__, I might finally beat him.__ I've always believed that. But… lately, I've started to feel that I had no hope… of ever measuring up to a true genius like __Neji__." Lee started to shake as he gripped the training log with both hands again. "I've wondered if it was possible for hard work alone to be rewarded… So I've kept challenging __Neji__… but the results have always been the same… I'm no match for him!"_

_Lee started to cry quietly. "And even now, on missions, my legs still tremble in fear… fear that no matter how hard I work, I'll never get stronger." Lee let his head hit the pole as he started to cry louder. "It scares me so much, and I can't stand it… I don't know what to do…"_

_Gai__ watched him for a moment, before stating calmly, "**All your hard work will prove worthless**__… **unless** **you believe in yourself**__!"_

Lee pulled his arms a little away from his face to see what his opponent was up to this time, his eyes going wide, before moistening with tears of gratitude as he remembered one last memory.

_"You remind me of me… back when I was a complete failure. Nowadays, in matches against that elite genius __Kakashi__, we're nearly even!!" __Gai__ grinned at Lee from where they sat, side by side, on a large boulder. "'I want to prove that even a person who can't use __ninjutsu__ or __genjutsu__ can still become a splendid ninja!' That's your shinobi path, isn't it?" As Lee looked at him, still stunned, __Gai__ continued, smiling even wider. "It's a great goal… one that's really worth fighting for."_

_As Lee went misty-eyed again, __Gai__ loudly proclaimed, "It's the path you chose, so have faith and follow it! Become such a strong fighter that I can sit back and enjoy the show! You got that Lee?!" He demanded, putting one hand on Lee's head._

_"Yes, sir!!"__ Lee cried out._

As the next barrage of sand came barreling towards him, Lee leapt out of the way, his speed having returned to what it had been before he became exhausted.

"How's he still smiling after taking a beating like that?" Haku asked, startling his friends with his return.

"Haku! How's Hinata!" Naruto asked.

"She's fine. Just sleeping and recovering, Naruto-kun." Haku smiled.

"Lee's smiling because he's about to start fighting back. The lotus of Konoha… always blooms twice!!" Gai proudly proclaimed.

"… For you, it ends here." Gaara pronounced coldly.

"Well, one way or another… the next move will be the last." Lee agreed, sliding once more into ready-stance.

"'The lotus of Konoha will always bloom twice'… I believe I've heard that before…" Haku murmured.

"Yes. Lee is capable of opening the eight inner gates. He is capable of performing the Reverse Lotus… one of the forbidden moves of Konohagakure. He bounced back just now by opening one of the inner gates, the second one. The first he opened earlier with his forward lotus technique. Anyone who opens all eight gates will become temporarily stronger than a Hokage… but to do so, they will inevitably die." Gai explained.

Lee crossed his arms before himself and concentrated. Bowing forwards slightly as his aura kicked up an unnatural wind, Lee's veins began to bulge as his skin turned red. His eyes lost their pupil and became pure white.

Uncrossing his arms and standing up, Lee clenched his fists and his teeth as he snarled out, "The third gate, seimon… Release!!"

Crouching down again with a scream, Lee continued by calling out, "The fourth gate, shomon… release!!!"

His veins bulged even further, and his nose started to bleed. His hair stood up in squared spikes. Launching forwards, the arena floor actually cracked slightly beneath the strain. Shooting beneath Gaara, he once more kicked him hard beneath the chin, sending him hard up into the air.

While everyone else was shielding their faces from the debris or wondering where the combatants went, Gaara's sand valiantly tried to catch up to Gaara. His sand armor, too, began to crack heavily.

Appearing before Gaara, Lee sent him flying backwards from a punch to the face. As Gaara flew back, Lee appeared behind him and kicked him forwards again. Lee continued to play ping-pong with Gaara's body in mid-air for a few more hits, as the sand armor continued to crumble and fall away.

Even from the stands, you could hear it as Lee's muscles started to tear. Appearing above Gaara, Lee opened the fifth gate and launched straight down for Gaara. Cannon balling Gaara as hard as he could to send him forwards, towards the ground, Lee unwound his bandages again, and wrapped them around Gaara's waist, yanking him back up.

As Gaara was pulled up, Lee flew down, extending one arm and one leg aimed straight for Gaara's mid-section. Slamming him for all he was worth, and letting go of the wrappings to let Gaara make the trip to the ground alone, Lee gasped in pain as he felt a few things snap within him.

As Gaara and Lee hit the ground, Lee hit hard on his side and watched the crater hopefully.

Gaara's gourd dissolved into sand and made a slight cushion for Gaara to land on, leaving him watching Lee back angrily from within his small crater.

Gaara pulled what strength he had left to call his sand in an attempt to kill off Lee with his dessert coffin.

Naruto looked sharply at Gai-sensei who nodded. Leaping down, they both stood between Lee and Gaara.

"**This match is over**. You fought well Lee." Gai proclaimed.

Gaara, staggering to his feet had a rather bloodthirsty expression. As he started to stagger forwards, Naruto yelled out, "That's enough Gaara!"

Gaara saw, in his mind, an image of Yashamaru. He gripped his head with a pained whimper as everybody watched. "Why are you… helping him?"

"He's my precious protégé!" Gai fiercely proclaimed.

"Because he's already becoming one of my precious people." Naruto stated calmly.

Gaara hesitated for a moment, an image of Yashamaru flickering before his eyes again. "Forget it…" He sighed, turning and walking back to the stands.

"The victor is Gaara!" Kurenai cried out, as the medics ran for Lee.

Lee looked up painfully from the stretcher to stare up at Gai.

Gai started to tear up at the exhausted, hopeful expression on Lee's face. "…You incredible kid… You are already… a splendid ninja…"

Lee drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face while carried on the stretcher. "He'll be alright… It may take him a while to recover fully… and even longer to get back to the point he was at… but he'll be alright." The medics softly assured Gai.

"Well then… after those splendid matches, I can proudly proclaim the preliminaries as over! The third exam will take place in one month's time!" Kurenai cried out. Naruto landed back with his team, somewhat surprised that Gai followed him up. "Finalists, train hard over the course of this month, and come back to proudly fight for your country! Please, all finalists that are within the building…"

The third and all of the proctors leapt back down to the remains of the arena as Kurenai finished. "We congratulate you on a job well done!"

* * *

Kabuto smirked as they finally reached the front gates. "Here we are… Otogakure…" 

Sasuke sneered as Kabuto walked in and had the orders from Orochimaru passed around. He idly dropped Sakura and knocked her out again. One of the ANBU offered to take the girl to the rooms put aside for himself and to secure her there. Sasuke shrugged and tossed her over.

"This way, Sasuke… The sound four, and Kimimaru, Orochimaru's most trusted servants aside from myself, will be the ones to train you…" Kabuto smirked.

* * *

The third mulled over many disturbing facts over the course of the preliminaries. The ones that weighed the most on his mind were Kiba's death, and the upcoming invasion. When one of the ANBU came up to him not long after learning of the invasion to tell him of Sasuke's escape, he started to truly despair. 

'_My old student… what did you set up before you died…? And how could I have been so stupid… __Sasuke__ always did act like you did at his age… almost exactly…'_ The third mused sadly, while he looked around for Kakashi. They would need to have a little talk.

* * *

"What happened to your third teammate, Sasuke? And why did you bring Sakura? There are other, less… loud… females in the world." Kabuto questioned, hearing Sakura scream angrily from a few floors up again. 

"Kiba… Kiba's death **should** have given me the mangekyo sharingan! That little bastard didn't even give me that after all he's taken from me!" Sasuke angrily growled. "And if all else fails, **she** might give me the mangekyo… maybe not now, but maybe after she's helped me resurrect my clan…"

"And your sensei…?" Kabuto questioned with a dark smirk.

"If he comes after us… kill him for his sharingan, I don't care." Sasuke growled, his black eyes glinting.

* * *

"What do you mean, you have no idea what we're talking about?! You trained the little bastard!!" Tsume snarled. 

Most of both clans were watching him in a mixture of anger and disgust.

Just then, an ANBU leapt into the compound, golden dog at its heels. They leaned over to quietly speak to Tsume and Shibi, before quickly heading back to their post.

"Your whole pack has spit apart and turned against Konoha or been killed, and you don't know?!" Tsume yelped indignantly. "Your two surviving teammates just turned traitor to Konoha!!"

Kakashi froze before gasping out "Sasuke…!"

Both clans watched him in disgust as he cried out for only one of his teammates. He didn't care about the girl, and he already had seemed to forget about Kiba. Shibi stepped forwards to look at Tsume. An entire conversation passed silently between them, as only the best of friends can do. When they turned their attention to Kakashi again, from the murderous expressions on both their faces, he wished they hadn't.

"Hatake Kakashi, son of the infamous Konoha White Fang, Honorary Inuzuka, I strip you of your status. No more shall your canine's answer to you. For as they had been granted as pups to you, now as adults, are they taken from you. No more shall you call us cousin, for you are dead to us. You are shunned from the pack, Hatake Kakashi. You are Loner, and we turn our backs to you." Tsume proclaimed, glaring. The only reason she and her pack were even still watching now was to see what the Aburames would add.

"Hatake Kakashi, son of the infamous Konoha White Fang, friend to the Aburame, I strip you of your status. No longer shall fireflies light your path; no longer shall mosquitoes ignore you. No more shall you call us friend, for you broke those bonds yourself. You may never set foot upon Aburame soil again. You are Betrayer, and we arm ourselves against you." Shibi proclaimed.

Both families had just done the unthinkable. They had just proclaimed that a fellow Konoha ninja was almost the same as an enemy to them. The third would likely wish to have words with them for this, but they were not ashamed of what they had done.

"Cut him loose. He is not welcome here." Tsume stated coldly.

As soon as Kakashi was free, he was up and running for the Hokage's tower as fast as he could. Pulling out his summoning scroll, he bit his thumb and drew it down the scroll. Watching as smoke formed, before the contract dissolved into dust instead of calling his dogs, Hatake Kakashi cried.

_"Hey there.__ You've been feeling so down lately, we thought we'd finalize it. You're now an Honorary __Inuzuka, __Hatake-Inuzuka __Kakashi__, if you ever wish to use it. Come on __now;__ let's go choose your partner or partners." __Inuzuka __Kenshi__, mother of __Tsume__, smiled._

_"Alright…" __Kakashi__ sniffed, still broken up over his father's death._

_Walking into the room filled with dogs and puppies of many races and colors, all rounded up into the room to try and let him find his partner, he felt more than a single tug. Soon, he had an absolutely tiny puppy in hand, he named __Pakkun__, and he was heading for a large bulldog. Soon, he had his many partners with him, much to the amusement of __Kenshi_

_"Maybe you should bind them to a summoning scroll, __koinu__. Then you can call them whenever you need them." She smiled._


	20. Coming Clean

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 20: Coming Clean

"Hokage-sama…!" Kakashi gasped.

"_No_ Kakashi. I will _not_ make the Aburame or the Inuzuka lighten their judgment on you. In fact, I'll add to it…! You, Hatake Kakashi, are no longer allowed the rank of Jonin Instructor! Your skills still declair you a jonin, however, you will not ever have another genin team if I have anything to say about it!" Sarutobi declaired, sadness, disapointment and anger warring on his face, after hearing from Kakashi.

"B-But…!" Kakashi stammered, stunned.

"_No_ Kakashi. Now please, **get out**. I have bigger things to worry about now." The third commanded. Once Kakashi left, he sighed. "Keep at least one ANBU trailing him at all times."

One of the shadows moved, revealing a bear mask. "Hai, Hokage-sama." The shadow leapt from the tower and vanished.

* * *

Shino led Hinata, Naruto and Haku towards the Aburame compound. "This way. You're sure your father doesn't mind?" 

"Sure. He t-told me I was free to take as l-long as I wanted, as long as I'm home b-before 9. He wanted to speak to the H-Hyuuga council." Hinata smiled.

"Good. Then we can have lunch and talk at the Aburame's and then meet up with Hayate as he asked by four." Naruto smiled weakly.

"S-Sounds good, Naruto-kun." Hinata smiled.

Walking up to the gates and walking in, Hinata gasped in awe of the flowers and the bugs all over the place. The grass was a brilliant shade of emerald green, the trees and plants were the healthiest they've ever seen, and the flowers were in a rainbow of color across the grounds. Ivy crept up most of the houses, window boxes full of even more flowers, and the houses themselves seemed made up of stone and wood.

Naruto looked around in awe. Last time he was here, it was nearly dark and he couldn't make out many details. "Man Shino. I'd love to live here…." Naruto breathed.

Hinata further surprised the bug boy by nodding, stunned, in agreement with Naruto. Haku smiled. He thought it was beautiful, but he'd prefer to live somewhere near water or Naruto. As a few bugs flew over to say hi, none of his awed friends seemed to mind much, in fact, Hinata giggled at having a pretty green dragonfly land in her hair. Naruto seemed to be well liked by the bees, as he had a few rather large ones flying around him. Haku had a few butterfly's dancing around his head.

"You going to invite your friends inside, or eat out there?" Shino's mom laughed.

Shino turned to look at his teammates, and Naruto decided to speak on his, Haku's and Hinata's behalf. "Out here please ma'am. If it's not too much trouble."

She vanished back inside from the window she had been leaning out of, and came outside a moment later with a large picnic basket – apparently she figured that would be their answer. "I've told you before dear, call me Tanya."

Haku smiled up at her. "Pleased to meet you, Tanya-san. My name's Haku." Haku smiled up at her.

"And I'm Hinata." Hinata shyly added.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both. Shino, why don't you take your friends out and set up your lunch beneath the willow tree? You'll have privacy there, and no one will bother you." Tanya smiled, handing the basket over to her son who nodded.

"This way." Shino stated, turning and heading deeper into the compound. "Thanks mom."

"No problem dear." Tanya smiled. "You four have fun!"

Walking deeper into the compound revealed even more flowers, many of them rather exotic, being somehow grown. "How…?" Haku started.

"There's always a chakra bubble covering our entire compound to keep the temperature at about what it is now. Our bugs require the warmer climates to survive, so we're able to grow even some exotic flowers for them." Shino explained. "Most members of the Aburame take turns pumping chakra into the bubble every month. That way, no one exhausts themselves. Because our kikaichu have almost half of our chakra reserves as their food every day, even if we wished to power the bubble with less people, it would be impossible."

"Amazing…" Hinata breathed as they continued. They walked into a small part of a forest, the trees far apart enough to let the sun in.

"Don't you guys have somewhere to train?" Naruto questioned hesitantly. "I don't remember seeing any of your family in any of the training grounds, but then, I'm not around them much either…"

"We have training grounds to the right of the entrance. This way, the left, is the gardens. If we need larger spaces to train, we have a long-standing agreement with the Inuzukas. They can practice their tracking here, and we can train in combat there." Shino explained.

Haku smiled serenely. "Any hope you have a stream, or a pond or something? Maybe before we go catch up to Hayate-sensei, we could all have a swim?"

"Actually, there's a stream not far from where we'll be eating. There's also a pond even further back, and a swamp at the back of our compound, though no-one but the bugs go into the swamp unless it's for training." Shino chuckled as they trekked through more flowers and trees.

Coming around the large pine tree, they spotted a massive weeping willow in a clearing, the leaves hitting the ground and still a foot or so longer, with a deep, wide, slow-moving stream trickling out around one side of the willow, it's leaves sheltering some of the stream beneath.

Shino led them up to the willow, and parted the leaves to let his friends proceed him in. Looking around in awe at the natural fort, Naruto was the first to spot the perfect place to set up their picnic and flew for it. It was more or less right near the trunk, and almost no flowers would get crushed to sit there.

"I think Naruto-kun found where we'll eat." Haku giggled, as the other three caught up.

Sitting down in a rough circle, Shino started pulling items out of the basket and setting them in the middle with Haku and Hinata's help. Naruto did as instructed and accepted the thermos of juice and carefully poured everyone a glass, and handed them out when he was done. Screwing the lid back on, he handed the thermos back and waited to be allowed to eat the amazing-smelling food.

Accepting a plastic plate, all four gave thanks for the food, and then happily filled their plates. For the next half hour, not much was spoken of; the food was just too good. After finishing with the meal and while sipping juice and munching on a last snack or two, Naruto leaned back against the trunk of the tree.

"Well… how do I explain this…" Naruto stammered.

"It's usually easiest to start from the beginning, Naruto-kun." Haku smiled softly in reminder.

"Right. Well… you know how, about 12 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked our village?" Shino and Hinata nodded, Haku shook his head.

"Ok, well, you see Haku, about 12 years ago, there was this massive nine tailed fox demon, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, that attacked our village. Many, many shinobi were killed and many, many kids were orphaned. No one thought there was a way to stop the demon. But the Fourth Hokage, he found a way. Giving his life, he stopped the demon. Everyone claims he killed the fox. He didn't." Naruto explained, catching startled attention. "He couldn't kill it. It was just too strong."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto pulled up his shirt to show his stomach. "He had to seal it into a newborn baby. He sealed the fuzz ball inside me." Naruto channeled some chakra, just enough for the seal to become visible for a moment, before he dropped both the chakra and his shirt and waited, flinching, for the outcome.

There was silence for a moment as the other three absorbed that information, before Shino crawled forwards and grasped his friends' shoulder. "I know you, Naruto. You're not the fox."

Naruto burst into a shaky smile as Hinata pitched in. "S-Same here, Naruto-kun." Grasping his other shoulder.

Naruto hesitantly turned to Haku. "Haku…?"

Haku gifted him with a blinding smile. "Do you even need ask, Naruto-kun?" He asked, smiling as he came over to hug Naruto from behind. Naruto smiled, assured he had the best friends in the entire world.

Naruto chuckled, continuing, "Technically, that makes me one of the nine possible Jinchuuriki..."

* * *

Lounging around in the grass around the stream, after having eaten, Hinata, Haku, Shino and Naruto waited for their food to settle so they could go swim. "Naruto. Something's been bothering me about your… condition." Shino said. 

Not looking up from his sprawl, Shino missed Naruto's flinch. "What about it?"

"How would you have not known for so long that you were a, what did you call it, a Jinchuuriki? How would you not know?" Shino asked, and that got every one of the four paying attention.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Until someone told me, I had no idea. Might have been that it was a part of the seal. If I hadn't known however, remember when I froze up against the mist brothers?" Naruto questioned. "I froze because a part of the seal snapped. I'd have started to maybe figure it out then, and when I went apeshit on Haku, I likely would have known by then."

"So, basically, we just need to get someone to turn very, very angry to find out if anyone else is?" Haku giggled, sending the group into tears they were laughing so hard. None of them could imagine Haku ever getting that angry, not even Haku himself.

"I dunno. We could always ask Hayate." Naruto grinned.

Haku laughed softly. "If my 'blood limit' really isn't a blood limit, you guys wouldn't turn on me, right? Naruto's explanation sounds so…"

"No worries Haku. If you are a Jinchuuriki, we'll find out sooner or later." Naruto grinned over at him. "What makes you think you may be?"

"Well, to be honest, neither of my parents expected me to have a blood limit, and there's no recorded family to have the abilities I do. Trust me, Zabuza-san checked. And Naruto, your explanation… remember how I said I was kidnapped before my powers appeared?" Haku explained, causing both to go deep in thought.

"How about we w-worry about this later? We've got about t-three hours before we need to meet up with Hayate-sensei." Hinata grinned, getting to her feet and shyly pulling her jacket off and tossing it over a branch. Her weapons followed a moment later, leaving her in a black t-shirt, a long-sleeved mesh shirt underneath that, and her black pants.She then quickly untied her hitai-ate and added it to her pile of stuff before wadding into the water with a giggle. "Water's great!"

"Sounds like a plan Hinata! You in Haku?" Naruto asked as he burst into a wild grin and stripped off everything but his orange boxers again, tossing everything on another branch and leaping into the stream nearby Hinata. "Cannonball!!"

Hinata shrieked as she was covered in the warm water, having not expected the attack. Watching the fun going on, both Shino and Haku looked at each other and shrugged.

Haku pulled his kimono and pants off, along with all his weapons, and his brand-new Konoha hitai-ate. He usually keeps it tied around his arm. Stripped down to only his black boxers and the ribbon around his neck, that was quickly pulled off and used to tie his hair back in a ponytail, Haku leapt into the water with a laugh.

Shino stripped off his jacket and weapons, leaving himself in his mesh t-shirt and black pants, before he pulled his pants off as well, leaving him in only his mesh shirt and black boxers. Wadding into the water, Shino shrugged and joined the water-war.

* * *

Walking through town to meet Hayate sensei, Haku, Hinata, Naruto and Shino couldn't help but occasionally burst into laughter whenever they looked at each other. Their clothes had remained dry, thankfully, but their hair hadn't, leaving Naruto and Shino with a drowned rat look, and Haku with his hair still held up in a ponytail. Hinata's, amusingly, spiked out when wet, leaving more then a few of the giggles from the others directed at her. 

Meeting up with Hayate, they still had massive grins across all their faces, enough for Hayate to laugh badly at seeing their new looks. "Come on, you four. We're going to Ko and Izu's to meet up with everyone and have dinner. This may take awhile, and we need to get it done today." He laughed.

He led the still laughing teens to Kotetsu and Izumo's apartment, and grinned wildly when Kotetsu opened the door to laugh himself to the floor at seeing his students. "Oh man, come one in. Towels are this way if you need 'em." Kotetsu sniggered, leading the teens to the bathroom.

"Thank you!" Haku giggled, grabbing one to try and dry his hair. While the four were crowded in the bathroom with the towels, they could hear other people arriving.

"Where're the brats we're here to discuss?" Anko's unmistakable voice cried out.

"In the bathroom, drying off their 'drowned rats' look." Kotetsu smirked, leaving Anko laughing.

About ten minutes later, all but Haku had their hair dry and back in their usual styles. Haku just brushed his out and decided to let it dry the rest of the way on its own.

Wandering out behind Naruto, the other three looked around rather startled. "What's with so many people?" Naruto questioned.

"Alright kids, sit down and we'll introduce you to everyone." Kotetsu grinned, motioning to the couches. Naruto and Haku sat on one, Hinata and Shino on the other. "Ok, you know me, and Izumo's making dinner. You obviously know Hayate. The crazy girl in fishnets and the beige trench coat is Mitarashi Anko, the creepy guy beside her is Morino Ibiki," Kotetsu just grinned impishly at the glares, "The hot chick with Hayate is Uzuki Yugao, his girlfriend," Kotetsu, again, grinned at the amused look, "The guy in green is Maito Gai, Shino's carbon copy is Aburame Shibi, his dad, and the woman with the black wolf is Inuzuka Tsume and her wolf, Kuromaru."

"And, as to why we're all here, we're here to determine who will train you and how over the one month break. Hinata, Haku, even though you won't be in the third exam, we aren't leaving you behind." Hayate smiled.

"First, does anyone else have anyone they would like to add?" Izumo called out from the kitchen. "Because I heard Jiraiya's in town, and I think roping him into training Naruto would be a good idea."

"Hell yes! If we can convince him! We'll worry about him later. Right now, we'll work of the assumption we've only got the people in this room." Anko grinned.

"Before we get too far in, I have a gift for the four!" Gai cried out, brandishing weights like Lee uses, likely a lot lighter, however. "Best put these on now."

All four students looked at each other and shrugged. Strapping the weights to their calves, and accepting the leg warmers to cover them, they were relived. Only Naruto got saddled with orange. Haku got blue, Shino grey, and Hinata white.

"The weights are set to work like Lee's – every week, an extra ten pounds will add to each leg, unless your capable of handling more. To override the ten-pound limit, though it can only go up, you can set it to increase by a higher amount each time, or just for the one week. Just place your hands over the weights, push your chakra into the weights, and recite how much you now want them to weigh. Be careful though, they can't be brought back down." Gai explained. "We'll tune them up to what you can handle tomorrow, it's already been determined I get you every day."

Tsume stepped forwards next, and smiled at the four. "All Inuzuka have at least one canine partner. You can place them in a summoning scroll or tattoo if you so wish, but from my clan, I grant Honorary Inuzuka status. Swing by the Inuzuka compound before you go home, and we'll find your partner or partners."

Anko, Yugao and Ibiki all looked at each other and smirked. "From us, you'll get some ANBU training, as well as use of an ANBU training ground."

Kotetsu grinned, "From Izumo and I, you'll get a few scrolls with chakra techniques, and jutsus we specially chose for you." As he said this, he tossed a rather heavy scroll to each of them.

Haku stood then, surprising the others. "I'll teach you three what I can of medical techniques and ice, water and mist jutsus." He smiled.

Shibi calmly added in, "I offer up the use of one of the houses in the Aburame compound for your use. Naruto, Haku, you two can move in tonight if you wish. I also offer up a contract to a bug. Come by later tonight or early tomorrow and we'll set up your contract."

Naruto went misty-eyed as he swallowed back a lump in his throat. "Thank you."

Hayate smiled and stepped forwards. "I'm not going to be much more use to three of you, but Naruto, your swordsmanship lessons will continue with me. I think it's about time I teach you the special moves, including my 'crescent moon dance'."

The adults were silent a moment, to let the group digest this. "You should probably swing by the Inuzuka and the Aburame compounds to get your contracts tonight so you can practice as early as tomorrow." Hayate smiled, as the other four nodded.

They spoke for the next hour as to who will train who and when, so it was always one-on-one, for the next hour. They ate dinner in relative silence as Hayate and Ibiki worked out a schedule for the teens.

"I think we've got it worked out here. Alright Naruto, if we can't convince Jiraiya to train you, You'll train with me during that time. You all have an hour for lunch and dinner, and will be training from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. The only time you'll see each other every day is from 1:00 to 2:00 as that's when the three of you will learn from Haku. Everyone but Naruto has Gai three times a say, and Naruto has him twice." Here, Ibiki showed them their full schedules, and delighted in seeing all four teens pale. "Any questions?"

"Yea. If we die, do we still need to train?" Naruto squeaked out.

All of the adults at the table roared with laughter.

* * *

"Alright. I've rounded up all of the unclaimed and unpartnered dogs we have into this room. Let's see who your partners will be." Tsume explained, opening the large double doors. "Hinata, you first." 

"A-Alright." Hinata stammered, walking into the room and looking around. There were so many dogs, she couldn't help but wonder how would she know which one? That was about the point when she felt almost a pull at her heart from the left. She shrugged, and followed it to a small, white, fluffy puppy. She gently picked her new partner up and brought her out to show Tsume.

"Cute, and she suits you. She's a wolf. Raise her well, Hinata. Shino, your turn." Tsume smiled.

Shino walked in and followed the light tug to where he knew his newest partner waited for him. He found a grey/brown fluffy puppy there, and gently scooped him up and brought him out to Tsume. "He's a wolf too. Look after him." Tsume smiled at him, "Haku?"

Haku smiled and wandered in and found two pulls. He followed both to the same area, where there were nearly identical fluffy, black puppies, longer of limb then the others, and with longer pointed ears. He gently scooped both up and walked out for Tsume's inspection. "Oh my. Twin wolf mix pups. Their mother was an odd breed we received from Suna. They're very regal looking when fully grown, and are very perceptive." Here she smiled. "One's a boy, the other's a girl. Naruto, your turn."

Naruto swallowed and walked into the room. _'Not a fox, not a fox, not a fox…!'_ Naruto mentally pleaded, following the tug. Walking deeper in, he found a small fluffy gold pup that was somewhat similar to Haku's. He gently scooped his new partner up and proudly showed him off to the smiling Tsume. "He's a wolf mix too. His father was a breed we also got from Suna. Very energetic, and with great hearing and eyesight."

All four looked at each other and smiled. "All four of you got wolves. That likely means you're already well on your way to being a strong pack. How many of you would prefer them to be contracted?" Tsume questioned. Unsurprisingly, all four chose that method. "You'll need to name your partners before I can bind them to you."

Hinata started, having already chosen her name. "Her name is Yuki. N-Not very original, I know, but…"

Shino stepped up next. "His name is Ryoushi."

Tsume turned to the other two. Haku motioned Naruto to go first. "His name's Akuma!" Naruto smirked.

Haku smiled. "The male's Kouken, and the female's Kouhei."

"So, Hinata's got Snow, Shino has Hunter, Naruto has Demon, and Haku has Guardian and Warrior." Tsume chuckled, "Fitting all right, scroll or tattoo?"

All four grinned and held out their right arms, "Tattoo please!" Once done, all four sported a tribal-looking design of a paw print just above their wrist with a small patch of skin in the middle. "The non-black spot is where you put your finger. I'll be teaching you how to summon them back out during your lessons." Tsume explained. _'__Kiba__… I wish you and __Akamaru could be here to help them… You'd have loved these four…'_

* * *

"Alright. First, tattoo or scrolls, then we'll set up your contract." Shibi informed them. 

"Tattoos please!" All three grinned, showing off their other wrist. Shino watched in amusement. Being an Aburame meant he had something similar to a contract with all bugs anyways.

"Alright. Now, I want you all to step forwards, and close your eyes. Whatever bug lands on you first will be the one you have a contract too, and that bug will be the one sealed into your tattoo to summon others with." Shibi explained.

All three stepped forwards and closed their eyes. After a few moments, both Hinata and Haku gave small noises that said they had been chosen. It took another three minutes before Naruto joined them. Once all three had their partnered bug, Shibi called out, "Alright. Now, open your eyes, and hold out the arm you want the contract on."

Holding out their left arms, Hinata giggled at seeing the jewel-toned dragonfly land on her arm. Haku chuckled over the pure-white moth on his, and Naruto grinned at the large bee perched on his arm. Shino snorted in amusement at seeing the choices for his friends.

Shibi created the contract on their left arms, what seemed to be stylized tribal striped, spiky rings around their left wrist. Shino grinned at his friends' joy.

* * *

Haku and Naruto finished packing up everything worth keeping from Naruto's small apartment and happily moved it to their new house. It took them a few trips to manage it, but soon they had their new house filled with the stuff worth keeping from their old place. 

Stretching tiredly, Naruto whimpered at Haku's informing him not to go to bed yet.

"But I'm tired Haku!" Naruto whined, looking mournfully at the clock which read nearly midnight.

"I know Naruto. I am too. But we need to unpack at least some clothes, the bathroom things, and some food for the morning at least. We won't have time before training tomorrow." Haku yawned.

"Alright. I got the clothes, you get the food, and then we'll work on the bathroom." Naruto sighed, grabbing an armful of each of their clothes, and placing them into one or the other of the bedrooms. Naruto's was done all in dark greens, tans and brown, with all metallic things in bronze. Haku's likewise, was done in blues, whites, and silvers.

Finishing with putting all his own clothes away and tossing a clean pair of pajamas onto his new bed, Naruto went to do the same with Haku's. Tossing some pajamas onto Haku's bed as well, Naruto went digging through the boxes for his and Haku's hair brushes to put on their dressers. Finishing that, he wandered over to another box to grab two of his glasses and filled them with water, to be placed at each bedside.

Going into another box, Naruto unpacked and sorted out their own weapons and put them into their own rooms.

Wandering back into the hallway, he unpacked all the towels and was putting them away in the bathroom when Haku joined him with the soap, washcloths, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

"Good enough?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Good enough. Goodnight Naruto-kun." Haku yawned, heading into his room.

"'Night Haku." Naruto agreed, walking into his own. Quickly getting changed, he pulled on his sleeping cap and collapsed onto his bed. He yawned, listening to the sounds of the insects outside, and the wind, and he smiled. "Home." Naruto smiled peacefully, as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Some of you may not be too pleased with how Kakashi has been portrayed so far. Part of it is that I've just taken his favoritism to the extreme. In the original, he did always favor Sasuke. He brushed off teaching Naruto so he could teach the bastard the Chidori after all. However, that's not the only reason I'm tearing him apart in this story. He will have a purpose. He needs to fall down for this story to work, you'll get the why's and how's later. He'll actually have a part to play that's rather important to the plot later. Just pay attention for now, and I hope I explain it all sufficiently when it's time. 


	21. First Day of the Month from Hell

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 21: First day of the Month from Hell

Naruto woke up with a yawn and a stretch, wondering for a moment where the strong scent of wildlife and flowers, the sound of bees, and the feel of a comfortable bed came from. For a moment, he thought he slept over at Shino's again, before he remembered that he was in his new house on the Aburame property. Remembering that, Naruto started to grin.

A moment later, he remembered why, and rolled over to look at the clock. Letting out a shriek, he bolted for the bathroom. He had only 15 minutes to get cleaned up, dressed, fed, and get to the training area Gai told him to meet him at.

Finished in the bathroom, Naruto ran to get dressed and was almost down in the kitchen before he remembered his new weights. Running back upstairs, he quickly strapped them on, and slid his leg warmers on over top. Turning around to make sure he had all his kunai, shuriken, and his sword, Naruto turned back to the door and bolted into the kitchen.

Launching into the seat with the food before it, he offered up a quick thanks to Haku for having left him breakfast before he left. Swallowing it down as quickly as he dared, Naruto grabbed his coat and bolted for the door. Wrenching it open, Naruto flew for the training grounds.

Skidding to a stop and panting to catch his breath, Naruto looked up to see Lee practicing on a log, and Gai grinning at him. "Come over here so I can set your weights, alright Naruto?"

Naruto nodded, and came over. Once Gai activated the weights, Naruto nearly fell over. "Oy! How am I supposed to move?!"

Gai just laughed. "For this first hour, that's all I expect of you – move around as quickly as you can before the hour's up. When you come back at 7:00 pm tonight I expect you to be able to practice the Taijutsu I'll teach you, at least on the practice log."

Naruto swallowed, but nodded.

That whole first hour was torture, trying to walk for the first ten minutes or so seemed to be nearly impossible. By the half hour mark, Naruto was able to walk around, but he wasn't so sure about running. At the 45 minute mark, he was able to lightly jog around, but his legs felt like they were made of lead. Gai kept him there until five minutes before his next lesson, meaning he'd have to run to make it on time.

Bolting as fast as he could manage to his next training session, he ran past Haku and flashed him a pained grin. Arriving in the clearing, Naruto grinned weakly at Kotetsu and Izumo.

"Alright squirt. We'll be in charge of teaching you every supplementary and offensive jutsu we can while you're with us, so the faster you learn them, the more you'll learn. Today, we're going to try the _Konbi __Henge_, the combination transformation, though you may not find it overly useful until you can summon your wolf, or work in complete tandem with your teammate. We'll be teaching this to all your team, one at a time, then we'll get to the specialized training. For now, you'll be practicing it with me, alright?" Kotetsu grinned.

"I'll be watching to help and make sure you do nothing wrong." Izumo grinned. For the whole hour, Naruto struggled to get his half of the jutsu to work. Nearing the end, he managed to make it work for a few moments, before loosing the concentration and dispelling it. "Not bad! Not bad at all!" Izumo grinned. "Even your friend Haku didn't manage that well!"

Naruto was smiling like a fool as he ran past Shino to where he was to meet up with Yugao, Anko and Ibiki. Arriving at the training area he was told to, Naruto warily looked at the game boards and stacks of paper on a few desks, and the dummy's on the other side of the area.

"Alright brat! Today, you get me!" Ibiki grinned. "Anko will be working on your power and your berserker abilities on the days you get her, Yugao on your stealth and tracking, and I get to drill intelligence into that thick skull of yours."

For Ibiki's hour, Naruto had intelligence drilled into his head in the form of chess. After this week, he'll have to play harder games against Ibiki. Chinese checkers, and if he's good enough, Go. First, Ibiki discovered, he had to teach Naruto the rules, as he's never even played these games before. The first few games lasted only a few minutes each against Ibiki. On the fourth try, he held out for almost 4 minutes.

By the end of the hour he was able to deal damage to Ibiki's forces at least, and in one game, he even got the man's queen before the game ended. Ibiki was rather proud of him for that. "Not bad. Need more work though. Get a board and play against Haku or someone during any free time you get."

"Okay Ibiki-sensei." Naruto yawned. It was only five to eleven, and he was already exhausted. He quickly headed to where he was supposed to train with Hayate.

Arriving in the clearing, he threw the man a tired grin. "Hi Hayate-sensei."

Hayate chuckled. "You look dead on your feet!" He laughed. "Don't worry, by the end of the week or so, you should be used to this schedule. Sundays will likely always be the hardest though, as that's when your weights are set to adjust."

Naruto whimpered pathetically. "Joy."

Hayate just laughed. "Come over here and draw your sword. I'll teach you the beginnings of the crescent moon style, and by the end of it, I'll teach you the Crescent Moon Dance. You won't likely get there for at least two or three weeks though. I'll do everything in my power to make sure you learn it before the finals."

For the next hour Naruto leapt, twisted and fought an invisible opponent as Hayate directed, learning quickly why the main attack of the style was called a dance. The more force you could get into your twirls and leaps, the more damage you could do.

Ten minutes before the lesson was over, Hayate called him over. "Hai Hayate-sensei?" Naruto panted.

"Hand over your sword, Naruto. You deserve better than a training blade." Hayate smiled.

Naruto swallowed, but unhooked the sword and handed it over. Hayate gently held onto the blade for a moment, before softly placing it behind him on a tree branch. Reaching behind him, he picked up another blade and handed it over to Naruto. "This one… This one had been mine, before I took up my fathers' blade. Take good care of it Naruto, and it will serve you well."

Naruto reverently held the sheathed blade. The sheath was done all in browns and blacks, twined together to almost make the leather look like bark. The bronze edges and veins though the sheath made it even stronger, and impossible for the sword to ruin the beautiful sheath. Turning his gaze to the hilt of the sword, it was done in the same color scheme. The grip was almost the same design as the sheath, and the guard was bronze, in a pattern that looked almost like vines and leaves made of bronze to guard his hand. The grip itself was long enough to have one hand hold it comfortably, or to squish both hands into to make it dual-handed. The edge of the grip was a bronze leaf design, made to look like the Konoha emblem.

Holding his breath, he unsheathed the blade, almost expecting it to be bronze in color as well. The blade was silver, but had a bronze sheen over it, making it glow dully in the light. This sword, like the other, was just a little longer than the average katana, but balanced to feel just right. It also had a small, green, lizard design on both sides of the blade, just before the guard and hilt.

"Hayate-sensei…" Naruto breathed, stunned as he held the beautiful sword. It just felt so right within his hands.

"It's yours Naruto." Hayate smiled softly. "I never really used it anyways."

* * *

After he finished swallowing down lunch at Ichiraku's, Naruto bolted towards where he was meeting up with Haku and the others. Haku got to train the three of them for the next hour, and Naruto wondered what he would teach him. 

Arriving at the clearing, he was amused and relieved to note that the other members of his team looked as dead on their feet as he did. Hinata had her jacket open and looked like she was only still wearing it because of how shy she was. Shino seemed to have given up the fight at some point, and was without his own jacket, leaving him only in his mesh shirt from the waist up.

"Alright." Haku yawned. "I'll be teaching all three of you the basics in healing and Ice, Water and Mist jutsu. Today, I'll be teaching you the _Mizu __Bunshin__ no Jutsu_. Partly because it's similar to the simple bunshin, and partly because it's a good one to start teaching you how to manipulate water on. That's why we've got a stream in our training field."

By the end of the hour, all three could create mizu bunshins, Naruto could call as many as he wanted, just like with his kage bunshins, and Hinata and Shino could call up to three each.

After his hour with Haku was up, Naruto ran towards the Inuzuka compound.

"Over here brat!" He heard called from off to the left. He wandered over that way and blinked curiously at the other woman there. Tsume was speaking to her wolf at the moment.

"My name's Hana, and I'm Tsume's daughter. If mom's ever unavailable, I'll be the one training you. Alright?" Hana grinned.

Naruto nodded as Tsume stood up. "Alright, from us, you'll learn how to use your 5 senses; sight, scent, taste, touch, and sound, to their fullest. We'll also be teaching you how to train, fight and summon your canine companion from your contract tattoo. Any questions?"

"Nope." Naruto grinned.

Hana chuckled as she and her three dogs sat on a log to watch. "Alright. Today, we'll work on summoning your companion and taking care of him."

For the whole hour, Naruto just practiced summoning Akuma from his tattoo and learned how to look after, feed and play with his new companion. He also learned that the longer his partner is in the real world, the stronger he should get.

"Hey Tsume-sensei? Would it be alright then if say from lunch 'till my later training session with you Akuma stays here and trains with you guys? I don't want him to get hurt if he comes to my other lessons." Naruto asked.

"I don't see why not. Alright, you can bring him here either at lunch or your lessons, and he can stay with us until your lesson later." Tsume grinned as she called Akuma over.

"Thank you so much!" Naruto grinned.

"Better get going before you're late to your next lesson squirt." Hana smirked.

"Actually, I've got two hours free today and I'm supposed to use them to convince Jiraiya to train me during those two hours. If he doesn't, Ibiki'll set up lessons for me instead, likely with himself." Naruto moaned. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find Jiraiya, would you?"

"Try the woman's bathhouse, the pervert. Smack him good for me too, would ya?" Tsume grinned.

"After he agrees to train me, or if he refuses!" Naruto laughed in agreement. "Later!"

Naruto quickly and quietly, made his way towards the woman's bathhouse. Checking the left and back sides, he walked around to the left and smirked. There sat an old man, with white hair, peeping through the fence, with papers in hand. Naruto leapt into the tree behind the old man and smirked. "You Jiraiya?" He called down quietly.

"Yea, who's asking?" Jiraiya snorted quietly, not moving an inch.

"Your new student for two hours every day." Naruto grinned.

"Says who brat?" Jiraiya growled, still not looking.

"Says the blonde who can scream pervert loud enough for every female in Konoha to hear." Naruto grinned wickedly.

"You wouldn't!" Jiraiya hissed, whirling around and blinking in surprise, before looking up.

"Oh I would." Naruto grinned. "Look, All I'm asking, is two hours every day. 3:00 to 5:00 pm, my sensei's all seem determined to get me to train under you."

Jiraiya stood up and walked a little closer. "And who're your sensei's then brat?" He asked curiously.

"My assigned instructor is Gekkou Hayate, but he's somehow convinced Kotetsu, Izumo, Yuugao, Anko, Ibiki, Tsume, Shibi, Gai, and my friend Haku to spend at least an hour a day training me." Naruto smiled proudly. Jiraiya's eyes opened a little wider with every name.

He was silent, for a moment, before asking, "Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. Future Hokage of Konoha!" Naruto proudly grinned. Jiraiya's lips twitched upwards into a smile.

"Two hours, huh? That's it?" Jiraiya questioned.

"That's it. Though I heard you were a seal master, and if that's the case, I was wondering if you could help a friend of mine." Naruto grinned, leaping from the tree.

"Help how?" Jiraiya asked.

"He's a Jinchuuriki, but his seal's screwed up. It's driving him nuts. Literally." Naruto sighed.

"And how do you know he's a Jinchuuriki?" Jiraiya asked, interested despite himself as he started to lead the blonde into the woods.

"Because he told me. And because… Because I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Fox." Naruto said hesitantly, looking up at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya froze for a moment, before laughing. "The Yondaime's legacy, huh? Alright kid, you got yourself a deal. At 3:00 every day, I want you out in the clearing I'm taking you to now. I'll be teaching you how to summon frogs, and to work with the Kyuubi's chakra. You've probably tapped into in on accident before, right? Well, I'll try and teach you how to control it."

"And about Gaara?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"I'll meet up with him tomorrow morning sometime to see what I can do, alright? Anything I missed?" Jiraiya smirked, as they stepped into the clearing. It was a large open space, that further out became a massive cliff.

"Just… Well, we're not sure, but Haku thinks he may be a Jinchuuriki too. He doesn't know. If he is, it's like mine before the Mizuki incident. He doesn't know about it." Naruto explained.

"Mizuki incident?" Jiraiya asked.

"Erm… Long story, ask the Hokage, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk about it." Naruto laughed sheepishly.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Alright brat. Come over here, I'll let you sign the Frog Summoning Contract. Today, you'll just practice that. I want to get to know you better before trying to deal with the Kyuubi."

Naruto shrugged and walked over to where Jiraiya had summoned a large toad that handed over the summoning contract. Jiraiya quickly set to unraveling the Frog contract. "Sign your name in blood here, and then make sure all four fingers and your thumb are bleeding and place your fingerprints at the bottom. Second name on the contract is mine, third's the Yondaime's, forth'll be yours." Jiraiya grinned.

Naruto paused a moment to look in awe at the fourth Hokage's signature, before biting into his finger and signing his name. Grabbing one of his Kunai, he gently pricked all 5 fingers on his right hand and placed them on the contract. "Now what?" Naruto grinned, as he wiped his hand clean. Jiraiya didn't fail to notice all the wounds had already healed.

"Now, you make sure your hand is bleeding, even a small prick in your finger will do, and concentrate your chakra. Once you're ready, you go through the hand signs I'll show you in a minute, then you slam your hand into the ground and call out _Kuchiyose__ no Jutsu_ and concentrate on the frog contract. As you get better, you won't need to yell it, like any other jutsu, you'll be able to use it nearly silently." Jiraiya explained. Once he was sure Naruto was watching, he showed him the hand signs.

"Now, try to summon brat." Jiraiya grinned.

Naruto took a deep breath and let it out, thanking Hayate over and over again in his mind for the chakra control exercises. Without them, he'd probably summon a tadpole or something equally embarrassing. At least he was pretty certain he'd get a frog now. Going through the jutsu as he was just taught, Naruto summoned.

He closed his eyes and held his breath as he heard Jiraya laugh. "Not bad brat. You got a frog on the first try. Even the Yondaime got a tadpole." Naruto opened his eyes and looked down curiously, eying the bright orange frog.

"Hi! Name's Gamakichi! What's yours?" The frog, Gamakichi, asked.

"Me? I'm Naruto!" Naruto grinned back.

"Alright brat. De-summon the frog and try again." Jiraiya smirked.

The next hour and forty-five minutes were spent summoning various frogs. Usually he got Gamakichi, who Jiraiya pointed out was likely his partner frog. He also met various relatives of Gamakichi's including three aunts, two uncles, a cousin, a brother, and a few friends. None of them were much larger than Gamakichi had been.

"Alright brat. Don't you have somewhere else you need to be?" Jiraiya asked, turning and heading back for the bathhouse.

"Yep! You won't forget about Gaara, Haku, and meeting me here every day for the month, will you?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Jiraiya snored. "Don't worry brat. I like you. You remind me of my last student."

"Who were they?" Naruto asked, catching up to walk through the forest with him.

As they broke out of the forest a moment later and started to head their separate ways, Jiraiya smirked. "My last student was the Yondaime, Kazama Arashi."

Naruto froze, stunned for a moment, before grinning like a loon and running for the Aburame compound.

"I think I'm going to enjoy training that brat." Jiraiya smirked, going back to his research.

Naruto arrived at the Aburame compound out of breath. "How'd tracking Jiraiya down go?" Shibi questioned as Naruto pulled himself together.

"He's agreed to train me!" Naruto laughed. "I already signed the Frog contract and everything!"

Shibi smiled behind his jacket and motioned Naruto in further. "Alright. The thing you need to know about your contract with your own hive of bees, is that they will live in their hive here on the property until called. Your hive is over here. The bee that's connected to you, the one you will summon first every time, is the king bee of that hive. The queen is also connected to you, but she isn't to be summoned. If the queen dies, your whole hive dies, so you never summon her, alright?" Shibi explained.

Naruto nodded.

"For today, I'll be teaching you how to summon the king bee, and maybe some of the rest of the hive. I'll also be showing you how to make sure your hive is as healthy and happy as it can be, alright?" Shibi asked, crouching beside the hive carefully.

Naruto grinned. "Kay! One question though… Can I get honey from them and how can I?"

Shibi chuckled. "Alright, I'll teach you how to be sure to cause as little damage about that as possible too. They always make too much – it's just a matter of taking the right amount and causing as little damage doing so as possible. This hive isn't big enough yet. I'll show you later how to design a bigger one for them that you can harvest honey from."

"Alright! So what's first today then?" Naruto asked.

Shibi motioned Naruto closer and started to explain about the bees to Naruto. The whole first hour was just him explaining about Naruto's new summons and how to care for his Hive. He learned how to summon them in the second half of the lesson. He was even taught how to summon the queen, in case he ever needed to move her.

Shino showed up just as Naruto was dismissed from training for the day.

"Father, can Naruto stay for dinner?" Shino asked, stifling a yawn.

"Alright. Come on then Naruto." Shibi chuckled, leading both exhausted genin into his house to warn Tanya they had Naruto over.

Settling down at the table, Tanya looked over both exhausted boys and asked, "Are you two sure you're up to your last two hours of training today?"

"Yup. I'll probably sleep like the dead tonight though." Naruto yawned tiredly. Shino just grunted, clearly more tired then Naruto.

Dinner was a mostly quiet affair so the two genin could gather what energy they could, before they split up for their next lessons, Shino following his dad out back, and Naruto taking off for another hour with Gai.

Arriving at the clearing, he saw Gai burst into a smile at seeing him walking around at normal speed, minus his exhaustion anyways.

"Alright Naruto! I want you to start with 50 pushups, sit-ups, crunches and chin-ups and then 10 laps around the clearing! After that, I'll start helping your Taijutsu get better!" Gai called out. Lee was already, or maybe still, hard at work beating a log into splinters.

Naruto whimpered, but got to work. By the end of his crunches, he felt like passing out, but he resolutely kept going. Once he finished his laps around the clearing, he turned, panting and sweating, to look at Gai. "Now… what…?" Naruto panted.

Gai got him to get into his usual Taijutsu form and corrected the minor flaws, then had him practice slipping into the new stance. Once he had that down, Gai started teaching Naruto the same Taijutsu style that Lee uses. Something about Naruto, like Lee, prefering speed and strength, and thus the same style will work for both of them.

The rest of the hour was one of the slowest hours of Naruto's life. When he was finally released from Gai's torture/training session, he dragged himself off to the Inuzuka compound for his last hour of training for the night.

"You, pup, look like a zombie." Tsume pointedly told the panting Naruto who dropped at her feet.

"Thanks… Tsume…-sensei." Naruto gasped.

She snorted as he struggled to get to his feet. "Just finished with Gai?" She smirked sympathetically.

"Uh huh." Naruto whimpered.

She just laughed. "Call over Akuma. You'll be working on training him for the hour."

"Yay!" He gasped. "Here Akuma!!" Naruto cried out. It took him a few more tries, but Akuma finally answered.

The rest of the hour was spent just training Akuma to answer to his commands, like come, sit, bite, fetch and track. They'd get to the more complicated ones later.

When they were finished, Tsume couldn't help but worriedly ask, "You gonna be able to get home okay?"

"Yup. Come on Akuma! Lets go pass out 'till tomorrow." Naruto yawned, heading back to his new place. He staggered the small distance between the Inuzuka compound and the Aburame's, waved at the guard at they opened the gate for him, and headed towards his house.

Staggering in the door, Naruto paused to yawn, nearly falling over as he headed towards the stairs leading up to his room, and spotted Haku taking a nap on the couch as he passed the living room.

Naruto made a quick detour to gently shake Haku awake, and they slung an arm over each other's shoulders as they braved the stairs for balance. Staggering into the upstairs hall, they split their separate ways, Kouhei and Kouken following Haku and Akuma obediently following Naruto.

Yawning widely as he wandered into his room, Naruto quickly got changed into his pajamas and collapsed onto his bed. Akuma leapt up and curled up near the footrest, as Naruto yawned tiredly again. _'I'm not __gonna__ live long enough to make it to the finals!'_ Naruto thought as he started to drift off to sleep. _'My own sensei's are __gonna__ kill me!'_

As Naruto fell asleep after the first day of the month from hell, as he would soon call it, he wondered just how much worse it was gonna get.

* * *

A/N: As college is approaching once again, I'm not too sure how often I'll be able to update. I'll try and do so at least once a week, but I make no promises. My schoolwork is more important. Next week will likely see 3 chapters still, but after that, it'll likely become once a week. I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS STORY! It just may take longer for updates, especially if I'm still working on this when the exams come out. 


	22. The Month from Hell – Part 1

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 22: The Month from Hell – Part 1

The entire month went by in more or less a blur of pain for Naruto. He got up, worked his butt off all day, then went home and passed out. He did learn a lot of amazing things, however, and even he knew that he learned an amazing amount in the span of a month. The third exam was in two days, and he and the rest of the team were given the two days off to rest. Naruto decided to kick start those two days by lounging around in bed until noon, and trying to remember all that he had done while recovering his strength.

_He remembered __Gai's__ lessons the easiest. They were also the most painful. He would get his weights upped every few days or so, since __Gai__ realized he adapted rather quickly to the extra weight. The first hour of those days were mostly spent walking around, and then doing stretches._

_He soon got even faster with the weights on then he had been with them off before the training started, and Naruto couldn't be more amazed. He'd have to tell Iruka about how fast he was getting._

_That was another thing he hated about that whole month. No matter when he tried to find Iruka, he simply couldn't find him. No one else knew where he was either, though the Third told him not to worry. Naruto just figured it was a mission. Iruka was a chuunin after all._

_Gai's__ lessons were definitely the most painful ones Naruto was subjected too, but they were likely also the ones he improved the most in. Just yesterday, __Gai__ asked him to take his weights off to train in his new speed, and he ran himself facefirst into a tree._

_Lee had laughed and told him that was rather normal, and helped even more than __Gai__ in helping him learn how to work at such speeds. It was like trying to run on ice at first – all speed, no control. Once he got it down however… Naruto couldn't wait to show off to Iruka-sensei._

_His lessons with Kotetsu and Izumo went well too. He couldn't even count the number of jutsu he learned from the both of them, as well as ways to avoid, counter or block__ both known and unknown juts__u.__ Kotetsu taught him many destructive jutsu as well. Naruto was a particular fan of all the fire based ones, especially when he learned that many of them were developed by the __Uchiha__, and that it __was__ very likely __Sasuke-bastard__ didn't know most of them because they were such a higher level then he was._

_They also taught him how to make his clones out of other elements as well. Having multiple element clones would always, always help him, especially in a fight against people who are usually able to see past clones, like a __Hyuuga__, an __Uchiha__, or an __Inuzuka__. They'd all look different to such people, or smell different, and if he got good enough to combine elements, he just may be able to make clones solid enough to take a few hits._

_Haku happily taught him all the offensive mist, water and ice techniques he knew, as well as many of the supplementary and defensive ones as well. It took Naruto far longer than anyone had thought it would to pick up the water prison technique._

_With __Haku's__ aid, Hayate was also able to teach all four genin the snow walking and ice walking techniques. Ice walking had been easy to pick up, the only difference between it and the tree walking was that the surface was slippery, and they had to account for the depth like water walking. Snow walking took a little longer, as it required even more precision then the other three, which is why they learned it after the ice walking. They needed to account for the different depths, air pockets, drifts, ice patches, the terrain beneath and the fact that the snow slowly melted beneath their feet._

_Haku taught both Shino and Naruto some basic first aid, but neither of them were good enough to learn any more then that. He gave private lessons on healing to Hinata for an hour of her day, however._

_Ibiki soon enough had Naruto __good__ enough at chess to beat probably most people within Konoha, and then started in on Chinese checkers. Ibiki played all the colors but yellow, which Naruto always __played.__ By the end of the week, he was able to hold his own at least, and the games usually lasted about 15 minutes or so. If Ibiki only played one or two colors, Naruto could actually win._

_They eventually moved onto __go__, but Naruto wasn't very good at that. It seemed his tactical skills wouldn't get very far passed the Chinese checkers at that point. So Ibiki found ways to make the game a little harder for Naruto, and taught him how to play with more than one color under his command. Naruto got so good, that if they each played three colors, Naruto could win at least half the time against the man. He knew he'd never be an exeptional strategist, but he was at least chuunin level in strategy._

_Yugao taught him how to be a tracker __first,__ and he made sure to bring __Akuma__ to those lessons. When he started, he was good enough to track the cat __Tora__, like just about all genin. By the time Yugao was finished with him, he was able to track anything short of a jonin through Konoha. Usually, she sent him after her friend __Genma__, who kept his skills around chuunin level just for those exercises. The first time Naruto met the man, he questioned how he knew Yugao. After that, __Genma__ made the tracking exercises have even more of a reward for Naruto – every time he found __Genma__, he'd hear a story about Hayate, Yugao, Kotetsu, Izumo, Anko or Ibiki during their own genin or academy days while they walked back to Yugao. Even if he didn't graduate with most of them, he had pulled many a story out of most of them at some point or another._

_After he was able to hunt down __Genma__ when he was using all of his abilities, Yugao taught him stealth. Tracking came rather easily to Naruto after his __pranking__ days, and because of the heightened senses he was developing from the __Inuzuka's__ training, but stealth was something he needed to work on. No matter how hard he tried, he still sounded like a herd of elephants to a chuunin. He eventually got to the point that he was stealthy enough for a chuunin, and she was forced to call it quits while they were ahead. She set him to trying to track her down after that. He failed miserably. She was just too good._

_Anko had great joy teaching him how to use his rage to become a berserker like she did, rather then sloppy as most people did. Her method of teaching involved getting him as pissed off as she could manage, and then forcing him to wield that rage in a fight against her. Like herself, he went rather animalistic when he went berserk. Where she went tiger-like, he turned almost wolf-like. She had honestly expected him to act like a fox, or to even call on the __Kyuubi's__ power. She was glad he didn't. He could practice that later. She really didn't want to have to deal with him if he went like she had heard he did at the Wave bridge mission._

_In his berserker form, Naruto was at least twice as powerful, twice as fast and twice as mean as anything he could do normally. Like all berserkers though, it had its drawbacks. Jutsu were impossible while in berserker form and weaponry was usually ignored, unless you trained really hard, or were already holding something._

_She also had a hard time at first helping him to calm down. The first time he called on his berserker rage, he was acting like a wolf for over three hours. After what was meant to be his lunch time, after missing his lessons with Hayate, Hayate himself showed up to try and find out where Naruto was. Finding him in such a state had worried Hayate a little bit, but Hayate was able to calm him down. Anko quickly learned to remind Naruto of one of his precious people to help to calm him down until he could do it on his own._

Naruto yawned lazily and rolled over.

* * *

"Do you understand your mission then Iruka?" The Third questioned seriously. 

"Hai Hokage-sama. Retrieve the stolen scroll, and the hidden necklace, and bring them back to you, all without killing the ninjas, or harming the hostage." Iruka parroted a shorter version back.

"Good. Then dismissed." The Third declared.

Iruka took off out of the Hokage tower, and darted over the roofs of Konoha, heading for the gates. It was still the first week of the month break between the Preliminaries and the exams, and he thought it was a perfect time to get a few missions tucked under his belt. He had handed in his Jonin Examination Form last week, but he was almost certain that it wouldn't go through until after the third exams. In the meantime, he could take a few missions and earn some cash. He'd need the money to take Naruto out for ramen after the exams after all.

As he reached the gate and showed the guards his rolled-up mission scroll, they opened the gates and let him through. Iruka easily darted into the forests, heading in the direction the thieves were last spotted in. Breathing deeply, Iruka wondered why he allowed himself to be cooped up in the mission tower and the academy so often. Sure he loved kids, but… There was nothing like being out on a mission.

Darting through the trees, Iruka started to look for signs of the Konoha missing-nins having gone this way. They were only chuunin themselves before going rogue according to the Hokage, so a chuunin shouldn't have too hard a time going after them. Though Iruka wasn't too sure how he'd take on all four of them, especially without letting the hostage be harmed.

Iruka glanced over at another tree as he passed, and quickly checked his course slightly more to the left. He travelled for about three hours this way, sometimes having to stop and analyze as to whether he was going in the right direction. Soon enough, he heard the silent sound of others ahead of him walking along the ground and slowed down, silently creeping forwards to get a better look.

Sure enough, there were four ninjas, none of which Iruka recognized. _'I have to take missions more often and get out of the academy.'_

The hostage however, he knew quite well. Naruto would have a fit if he found out. The hostage taken was none other than Ayame, the daughter of the mand who ran Ichiraku.

He carefully sat back and started to analyze the situation. _'Alright.__ They stole a scroll; it's likely on one of the four of them. They took a hostage, likely as a distraction for if they're attacked. They also stole a necklace and hid it somewhere in the forest, likely as a diversion. I can hunt down the necklace __last,__ it's the only thing that likely isn't moving. It seems the four of them are settling down for the night, which means sooner or later only one or two will be on watch. Then I can… either knock the ones on watch out as silently as possible and take the hostage somewhere safe then come back for the others, take the hostage and get her somewhere safe before fighting the others, or take the hostage and somehow split the four others up.'_

Iruka watched, thinking hard on the issue, as three of the four went to sleep. He waited until he was sure they were asleep, and then started to put the plan he decided on into action.

* * *

Facing the other side of his bed, Naruto smiled softly as he remembered Jiraiya had kept his word. He had checked Gaara's seal over. 

_Naruto showed up for his lessons the second day he would learn from Jiraiya. Walking into the clearing, he was rather surprised to see __Gaara__ there. __"__Gaara__?"__ Naruto asked, surprised._

_"So, I grabbed the right brat then?" Jiraiya asked. "Good. Then show me your seal brat, let's see what I can do."_

_Gaara__ hesitated, before pulling his gourd off and placing it to the side, and then placing his shirt over that.__ He __laid__ down on the grass to let Jiraiya have a better look at the seal. It looked rather similar to __Naruto's__ except some parts were missing, and the spiral was only half sized, not to mention it was always visible._

_"__Oy__!"__ Jiraiya yelped. "Who the fuck designed this thing?! This isn't the kind of seal one would place on a person! In the state it's in, it could be used __to bind the demon, into say, an__ inanimate object, but not a person!"_

_"But you can fix it?" Naruto questioned anxiously._

_"Yea, I can fix it. I won't be able to teach you much today though brat, so just practice __your__ summoning over there. This will take a while." Jiraiya sighed._

_For most of the two hours Naruto spent training to summon frogs in the clearing, Jiraiya spent painting more symbols onto __Gaara's__ stomach and pumping chakra into the seal. When it was fixed to look like __Naruto's__ seal, Jiraiya carefully cancelled the flow of his chakra into the seal, and all three watched as it faded away, like __Naruto's__ did when it wasn't being used._

_"__There__ kid. __All done.__ Now take my advice and go home and sleep for a few days, maybe even a few weeks straight." Jiraiya yawned._

_Gaara__ slowly sat up, his eyes wide. He couldn't hear __Shukaku__ screaming in his head anymore._

_"I'll be training Naruto to learn how to control his seal a little bit soon. Yours is still too new however. Don't call on the demon willingly if you can manage it for at least a year, alright?" Jiraiya seriously explained._

_Gaara__ swiftly nodded, and thanked the both of them before heading home._

_On his way through Konoha to head to his next trainer, he was a little surpri__sed to be stopped by __Temari.__"Naruto, thank you so much for helping __Gaara.__ There's no real way to thank you enough, but maybe inviting you to dinner at our apartment will at least begin to repay the debt."_

_Naruto perked right up. "You guys don't owe me anything, I'm happy to help."_

_"Nevertheless, come over for dinner tonight, alright? I'm not sure if __Gaara__ will be awake by then, probably not, but __Kankuro__ and I want to thank you anyways. We'd also like to get to know you better." __Temari__ asked hopefully._

_"Well… __Alright then.__ I can't really say no to food!" Naruto laughed sheepishly. __Temari__ grinned, proving she had likely asked someone about that already._

_"Alright then.__ When can you come over? We usually eat around 7:00." __Temari__ questioned._

_"I get my dinner break this month from 6:00 to 7:00. My sensei's running us ragged to get us ready for the exam." Naruto laughed._

_"Six it is then. I better get going right now then. See you later, and don't forget!" __Temari__ smirked as she turned and ran off. Naruto then realized he was going to be late to his hour with __Shibi._

Naruto chuckled as he stretched languidly, hearing Akuma, Kouhei and Kouken playing around in the living room downstairs. He licked his lips as he remembered the meal he shared with the siblings.

_By some miracle __Gaara__ actually decided to stay awake for the few extra hours so he could eat dinner with Naruto and his siblings. He'd go to sleep when Naruto left._

_When Naruto arrived, __Temari__ nearly suffered a heart attack, while __Kankuro__ laughed at her frantic setting of the table. Both __Temari__ and __Kankuro__ had had a hand in cooking dinner, so while __Temari__ set the table, __Kankuro__ went to answer the door._

_As Naruto wandered in to the apartment the siblings were given for their stay in Konoha, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the aroma of dinner he could smell from the second he walked in though the door.__ He had no idea what it was, but it smelled delicious._

_Kankuro__ led him into the kitchen, and showed him where to sit as he went over to help finish setting the table. Once the food was laid out and all four were seated, __Temari__ grinned over at Naruto. "I hope you like it. I haven't seen anything like it sold in Konoha, and it is a recipe from __Suna__. It's __kinda__ spicy…" _

_Naruto grinned and stopped her before she could start to babble by admitting, "Whatever it is, is smells great!"_

_After trying a bite, Naruto decided it was better than great. It was delicious!_

_Dinner conversation revolved around getting to know one another better, as well as more than a few 'thank __yous__' from the siblings to Naruto, who waved them off every time. Naruto learned that __Temari's__ favorite animal was a fox, __Kankuro's__ was a cat, and __Gaara __was__ actually quite fond of scorpions. He learned some of their favorite foods, heard a bit about their village, and was told by __Gaara__ of his uncle __Yashamaru._

_Likewise, Naruto told much the same things about himself. __His favorite animal, his favorite foods, his favorite places within the village.__ He also told them about Iruka-sensei. __And then about Hayate-sensei.__ He happily explained to them his dream of being Hokage, and even about why he wants it so bad._

_By the end of the meal, they were all smiling, even __Gaara__, as they bid Naruto goodbye. He had to get to his next lesson before he was late, especially as it was with __Gai._

* * *

Hinata yawned tiredly as she sat up, at seven am like always. Stretching and letting out a pained whimper, she agreed with Hayate-sensei's having given them the two days off before the third exam. Long enough to recover from the exhaustion. Slipping out of bed, she carefully selected her clothes for the day. Most of her outfit stayed the same, but she nixed her old jacket back near the beginning of the month. She only wore a thin white windbreaker over her clothes now. 

Taking her shower, and drying off, Hinata wandered back into her room and wondered what she should do for the two days. She knew Naruto would likely spend it sleeping, and Haku watching over him, so maybe she'd track down Shino and spend the day with him.

Hinata tried valiantly to stifle the blush that tried to creep up her cheeks at the thought as she pulled her weights on and finished her outfit with the leg warmers over the weights and her new jacket. She reached over into one of the drawers in her dresser and pulled out a sheet of paper she had recieved just yesterday and smiled.

She was so proud of the fact that she took her healer's test yesterday and got herself placed as a novice. A chuunin-level healer! Haku had been so proud of her, having been the one who taught her. She would be more then good enough to patch up her team from now on, so long as she wasn't too wounded herself.

Her defensive jutsu were all very useful she had her place as the medic/defender of the team cemented. Without counting Haku and Hayate, team 8 is amazingly well balanced. With those two included, they're likely one of the stronger groups in the village.

She also became nearly as good a tactician as Shino, and learned a second style of taijutsu from Gai, one he knew that would complement her jyuuken style. She also spent the time given to her to improve her use of her family's kekkai genkai. She could now perform a perfect kaiten and was learning the 64-palm strike. That would still take her a while to learn yet, however.

Slipping down into the kitchen, Hinata collected herself a quick breakfast and ate it in silence. She hasn't seen her father or Hanabi since the preliminaries ended. Neji had warned her that they didn't look happy whenever her name was mentioned, though if he knew why, he never said. Taking his advice wasn't hard - she wasn't too fond of them anyways - she took to avoiding the both of them as carefully as she could manage. Slipping out of the house, she went to look for Shino.

* * *

Haku looked up towards Naruto's room in amusement and wondered if he should just bring his breakfast up there. He shrugged, and decided Naruto wasn't likely to get up until noon anyways, and swiftly ate his own breakfast, listening to the three puppies play. 

Smiling gently as he finished eating, Haku slipped off into thought, remembering one of his better memories of the long month.

_Haku had painstakingly stayed up at least an hour after coming home every night to attempt to come up with a plan to cure Hayate. Looking into his almost filled notebook, he sighed and flipped to a new page, slowly trying to discover a safer way than the original. So far, he's discovered a few, slightly saver ways. __Slightly meaning only half as many people had to die._

_This time, he put pen to paper, and started to plan. __He new if he had Naruto as the battery, they would need a powerful medic, and a stabilizer the medic could work well with.__ However, using Naruto as a battery, they would need at least two other powerful batteries to stabilize him, so his chakra wouldn't kill the medic._

_That still left too much power draining out, however, and could still kill the patient, and the stabilizer, though the batteries and the medic would be alright, if the medic was strong enough._

_Letting his eyes roam over the small diagram and his scribbles and notes, Haku felt his eyes widen, before he drew another stabilizer behind the stabilizer. The second stabilizer could control the remaining energy…!_

_Haku grinned wildly as he figured it out. He was completely unaware of the distress signals his own body was sending him._

_He had slid to sleep that night, feeling rather happy and proud of himself. Now, he just needed to figure out who would do what_

* * *

Iruka grunted in pain as he took another hit. He had already knocked two of them out, and had them and the hostage secured about a mile away. The last two ninjas found each other during that time, and found him while he was looking for the next one. 

Twirling around and leaping into the air, Iruka managed a lucky shot to knock out the third ninja and send them into a tree. The last one after him however… there was no way he had been truly a chuunin. He was jonin level at least, and Iruka knew he was severely outclassed.

Darting out of the way of the next hit, Iruka tried to think of a plan. There was no way he'd win on brute force alone, not that he ever likely would. He had to be smart, cunning… he needed a better plan. His separate and defeat strategy worked on the last three, but this one was stronger. Much stronger.

Leaping into the trees, Iruka created a single kage bunshin to pick up the third ninja and to tie it up securely with the others. Turning back to the ninja he still had to deal with, Iruka smirked. _'Who ever knew a few of __Naruto's__ old pranks would come in useful now?'_

Leaping back into the fight, and going head to head against the much stronger ninja, Iruka cried out in pain as the kunai bit deep into his leg, and frantically continued to set the trap. Twisting around, Iruka quickly performed kawarimi to get a good distance away and smirked painfully as the trap went off. Modified from Naruto's harmless version, this one was designed to hurt.

Naruto's original had simply been a few small tripwires, some sticky substance and paint. Iruka's was much deadlier. Tossing chakra strings around the ninja, he also threw a few actual wires out, making sure that they were visible, so the chakra strings were less noticeable. He had to get in close to box the ninja in, with wires above and below as well.

As soon as the ninja tried to come after him, he got wrapped in the chakra strings he never saw, which pulled the metal wires to trap him as well. While he struggled, Iruka swiftly cast an earth jutsu and then a water jutsu to cover the struggling ninja in mud. Reaching out, it was an almost simple matter to knock the ninja out. He just hoped this one wasn't the one with the scroll.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's part 1 of the three-part month. Some parts are very vital to the story, others are just cute, and to a small extent, I'm just stretching it for some time. The three parts likely could have been sliced into one chapter, but… Well I wanted to write it this way. That, and I've scrapped my ideas for further in again, and am re-deciding what'll happen later. I know the main points, and some of the lesser ones, but every time I change something… 

Anyways, I'll try to update every Monday from now on.


	23. The Month from Hell – Part 2

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 23: The Month from Hell – Part 2

Dragging the heavy dirt encased ninja back to the other three tied up ninja and the hostage, Iruka sighed. He secured all four ninja with a few more tricks and knocked all four out with a sharp rap to the head again. Ayame let him set up the campfire, and helped him to get a meal for the two of them.

Once they ate, he created another shadow clone to start to search for the necklace. If it wasn't found by morning, he'd come up with a different plan. Making sure Ayame was as comfortable as possible, and that she wasn't going to run off on her own, he dropped to the ground and happily passed out.

When he woke up in the morning, he had the necklace in hand and his clone had dispersed. Iruka smiled, and got breakfast ready while Ayarme woke up. After they ate, Iruka dragged the four ninja back to Konoha, and made sure Ayame was still following him.

Seeing the gates before him, he couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Haku shook his head at the remembrance of the first memorable thing that happened over the course of the month for him. The second thing happened the next morning, when the theory he came up with about himself was proven true. 

_Haku woke up with a tired yawn and a shiver, wondering why it was so cold. Opening his eyes, it took everything he had not to scream. His while room was covered in ice. Thankfully, he fell asleep clutching the notebook, so it was untouched, but, his room…!_

_Haku quickly grabbed a pair of clothes after forcing his dresser to open, and bolted for the bathroom and a hot shower. Feeling the warmth hit him, __Haku's__ shivers lessened somewhat, but he quickly ate his breakfast.__ Deciding he'd apologize to Kotetsu and Izumo later, he didn't go to his lessons as he was supposed to. __Every time he stayed still for more then ten minutes something nearby started to freeze over._

_Arriving near the woman's bathhouse, he found Jiraiya, even at this time in the morning, and was torn between being relieved and disgusted. __"Jiraiya-san?"__ Haku asked._

_"Another brat?!"__ Jiraiya yelped. "What now?"_

_Haku sighed. "Is there anyway you can tell if someone's a Jinchuuriki?"_

_Jiraiya froze, and then stood up. "Come this way kid." Jiraiya lead him into the forest and to the area he trained Naruto in._

_"Lie down and lift your shirt. Channel chakra." Jiraiya demanded as he crouched down beside Haku. He did as demanded, but nothing happened, aside from the __air getting colder._

_"Whoever bound yours bound it good kid. I think I know which demon it is too. __The __Sanbi__ no __Isonade, t__he three tailed fish. I've also heard it called a turtle, and some think it's a dragon. Whatever it is, it's aquatic. Anyways, yours was bound using a different seal than Naruto and __Gaara's__. There's not really much I can do aside from maybe adding another containment ring. As it stands, you really just need to practice more. As you grow older, you're slowly absorbing the demon, taking its chakra and powers. My guess is you did something that triggered your emotions hard enough you prematurely broke another ring of the seal." __Jiraiys__ explained, pointing to the rings circling __Haku's__ belly button. "Every year that passes, another ring disperses is my guess. There's only four rings here left, so my guess is you broke the ring that was supposed to break when you reached 16. How long 'till your birthday?"_

_"Almost a year away."__ Haku whispered._

_"Alright, then I'll have to reapply that ring. You don't have the reserves for the power you accessed, that's why it's going haywire." Jiraiya sighed. "Stay lying down, I'll apply the ring now."_

Haku chuckled as he wandered into the living room to watch the three pups play. Jiraiya had done just that and reapplied the ring. According to Jiraiya, his chakra reserves will never be what Gaara and Naruto can expect to wind up with, due to the fact that his seal is literally turning the demonic chakra into normal chakra, and gave him his so called blood line. When he's fully absorbed the fish, he'll be about half as powerful as Gaara will be when he's 20. Considering the more tails a demon has, the stronger it is, Jiraiya pointed out that he got the short end of the stick with his crappy seal.

Haku really didn't mind. He did, however decide that Gaara and himself would be the batteries that back Naruto up in the ijutsu.

Haku was also amazed about just how bad his taijutsu really had been. After only the first week with Gai, he improved more than ten times what he had been, and was in much pain for it. He'd never catch up to Naruto, but he was nearing Shino's level of taijutsu prowess by this point.

* * *

Shino woke with a soft groan, his body demanding he go back to sleep. Shaking off the pain from the lingering bruises, Shino headed for a nice, hot shower. When he returned to his room to get changed, he chuckled at seeing the outfit he wore since the academy hanging rather forlornly off to the far side of his closet. 

Slipping into his black pants and black ninja sandals, he added the leg wrappings up to nearly his knee from his ankle and placed his weights overtop. He pulled the leg warmers over top of the weights to hide their existence from view. Pulling on his mesh shirt, he wrapped his hitai-ate around his forehead like always. Placing his sunglasses and usual weapons on, he paused and looked at the twin sickles that lay innocently on his dresser.

His mother had been grilling him for two separate hours a day on their use, and had proclaimed him good enough to wield them only yesterday. He quickly decided to add them to his usual outfit and hooked them onto his back, the blades resting against each other across his lower back.

Giving a soft whistle, Ryoushi came bounding in to his master's call and Shino nodded. He had no idea what he wanted to do for today, but he wasn't going to do what Naruto likely was and sleep the day away.

Heading downstairs for breakfast, he was rather amused to see his mother, once again, nearly asleep in her breakfast. "Not a morning person are you mom." Shino chuckled softly, pulling the breakfast she made for him over. How she ever managed to teach him how too wield two deadly weapons at eight every morning for the last month, he wasn't sure.

He suspected she temporarily took to drinking coffee, however.

Placing his dishes in the sink, he thought back over the last month. His only real regret was that it took him so long to learn any jutsu. He got to learn from Kotetsu and Izumo twice a week, and yet he still learned slower than his teammates. Due to his kikaichu eating half of the chakra in his body, he naturally has lower reserves than every member of his team. With his kikaichu feeding off of his chakra it also meant he learnt jutsu slower than the rest of his team as well.

He knew his real strength lied in his kikaichu, especially after both his mom and dad drilling him so hard on their use this whole month. He thinks his kikaichu are as tires as he is. As far as he can tell, most of his hive is still asleep.

He was almost at the gate to the compound when he nearly ran into Hinata. "Hi Shino-kun. Naruto-Kun and Haku-chan are likely not planning on waking up for the day, so I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with me?" She shyly asked.

That was another thing that changed over the month. Whether it was dealing with Anko and Yugao, or having to deal with Kotetsu and Izumo, or even the lessons with Ibiki, at some point, she just stopped stuttering. Even she wasn't quite sure when it happened.

"Sure." Shino smiled.

* * *

Iruka finally dragged his four enemies into the Hokage's tower as directed, with Ayame dutifully following behind. 

"Ah! Good work Iruka! The scroll? And the necklace?" The Hokage smiled.

Iruka handed them over happily and smiled as he was dismissed. Ayame just grinned as she looked at the Hokage.

"How'd he do Ayame?" Sarutobi grinned as the henge's fell off his four 'captives'. Ayame giggled as she helped to free the knocked out shinobi. She explained in as great a detail as she could as she tried to free the last one. The first three were chuunin. The one encased in earth was jonin.

"Well Hokage?" Ayame questioned hopefully.

He chuckled. "You know I'm not supposed to say anything Ayame, now go home before your father gets mad at me."

Ayame pouted, but left.

"I think he'll make an excellent Jonin, so long as he can pass the second part of the exam. Don't you?" The Hokage chuckled to the still passed out shinobi.

* * *

Haku curiously answered the summons from the Hokage, after making sure Naruto would be alright if left home alone. He hasn't gotten up for breakfast yet, and it was almost time for lunch! 

"You wished to see me Hokage-sama?" Haku asked, walking into the room.

"Yes Haku. I heard you came up with an ijutsu you think might help Hayate?" The Hokage questioned.

"Yes, I did. You know how the original had only a single battery, a medic and a stabilizer?" Haku started, digging out his notebook and flipping it to the right page. "Here. See? That's the original." He flipped to nearly the back of the notebook next. "Here's my rendition. See, one main battery, and two supporting batteries, one medic, a stabilizer, and another stabilizer to stabilize and help the first one. I've already figured out that Naruto would be the main battery, and Gaara and I would be the secondary batteries. I just don't know who could be the medic or the stabilizers yet."

"Hmm… I think I might know someone to pull off two of the three empty rolls. My old student Tsunade could be the medic, if we can convince her to come back to Konoha, and her apprentice Shizune could be the stabilizer." Sarutobi mused.

Haku quickly added those two names to his notebook and questioned, "Sir? How could we contact this Tsunade?"

"Not right now I'm afraid. After the third exam, I'll send someone or a team out to try and convince her to come back." The Third sighed. "For now, however, I do believe you just earned your medic mastery."

"I what?" Haku gasped.

The Third laughed. "I never said you needed to actually perform your self-made ijutsu after all, just create one that would theoretically work. This, will work. Thus, you've earned your mastery. Come with me, and we'll get you registered and tattooed, alright?"

Haku nodded, dazed, and followed the grinning Hokage to the hospital. He barely remembered getting the tattoo or the paperwork, and the next thing he knew, he was outside walking home. Haku dazedly pulled up his right sleeve to see the stylized red cross on his shoulder with amazement.

Walking into his and Naruto's house, he almost made lunch in a daze, but snapped out of it before adding sugar to the food. He carefully checked what he had already made, and sighed in relief that he made the rest alright so far.

* * *

Iruka answered the Hokage's summons promptly like a good shinobi as always. Arriving at the tower, he was rather confused about being drawn out to a clearing where Asuma stood waiting. 

"Now Iruka, You did hand in your Jonin application form, did you not?" The Hokage smiled.

"Yes sir, but, what…?" Iruka asked in confusion, looking between the chuckling Asuma and the smiling Hokage.

"Simple. Your last 'mission' was the first part of your exam. The jonin exam is done on solo performances. That's why you were demanded to not kill your opponents – they were disguised leaf nin. The second part of the exam chosen for you is a fight against Asuma here." Sarutobi grinned.

Iruka looked completely floored. "I- what?" Iruks gasped, looking at the Hokage in confusion. "But I got paid…?"

The Hokage laughed. "Yes, the mission was paid for, an advance to your hopeful rank as jonin and compensation for your time really. No jonin is ever told when their exam will be, and thus they're paid for their personalized mission. One-on-one you're an amazing fighter Iruka. I've never seen anyone more capable of setting traps in the middle of a fight. However, fighting against someone who can keep going through most of your tricks – Asuma – has always been a weakness of yours. I'm sorry to say this, but like all jonin hopefuls, you have to defeat a jonin that utilizes your weakness. His brute strength and near inability to get caught makes him your weakness."

Iruka swallowed and eyes Asuma warily. "Hai Hokage."

"Well then." The Hokage grinned clapping, "Are you ready?"

"Hai." Iruka swallowed, stepping into the clearing as Asuma put out his cigarette.

"Well then, begin!!" Sarutobi cried out, watching eagerly. Most would never believe Iruka to be a strong fighter. Truthfully, he's not, however his sharp mind and his trickster heart give him quite an edge against most opponents.

Darting swiftly out of the way of Asuma's initial charge, Iruka started to plan. Using his slightly greater speed to his advantage, he took to darting out of the way, ducking under or leaping over Asuma's attacks.

Smirking slightly, Iruka leapt back and flew through the hand signs to an earth jutsu he was rather fond of. Slamming his hands on the ground, it seemed like nothing happened as he leapt away again. He knew he'd never easily take Asuma down, but he thinks he has a workable plan set up.

Flitting over to another area, Iruka cast the jutsu again. By now, even the Hokage was curious as to what he was up to.

As he tried to flit to another part of the field, Asuma managed to pounce him, slashing out with one of his trench knives and getting him lightly on the side of the head. Feeling the blood dribble from the stinging wound in his head, Iruka struggled out of his pinned position and flipped over the startled jonin's back.

Landing a good distance away, he cast the same jutsu again. As Asuma charged him, Iruka knew he needed to slow Asuma down somehow, hold him in place, even if only for a moment. Praying this wouldn't spell his defeat, Iruka didn't leap away – he drew a kunai and leapt into Asuma's charge.

Parrying Asuma's left trench knife as he flew through one-handed hand signs with his right hand, Iruka tried to use his left arm to parry both trench knives, and Asuma's strength. Twisting around, he cried out as one of the trench knives bit hard into his arm, but it was enough.

He focused through the pain and finished the hand signs while Asuma was distracted and slammed his right hand into the ground again. This time, Iruka smirked up at Asuma as the startled jonin started to sink. Iruka swiftly slugged the very surprised Asuma under the chin as he heard the Hokage start to laugh.

Twirling into a hard kick to the side of his head, Asuma fell flat on his rear into the quicksand.

"Match over! Good work Iruka!" The Hokage laughed over.

"Damn it, you tricky little prankster, get me out of this!" Asuma yelped, a disgusted expression on his face as the quicksand stopped pulling him down once he was submerged to his shoulders. "Do you have any idea how gross this sand feels?!"

Iruka smiled innocently and walked over to the Hokage, ignoring Asuma's yells as he clutched his heavily bleeding left arm. "How'd I do Hokage-sama?" Iruka just kinda swayed on his feet in exhaustion and bloodloss for a moment as Asuma slowly started to force his way out of the quicksand, grumbling all the while.

"Iruka…?" He heard faintly, before everything went black.

* * *

Hinata and Shino headed out to enjoy the town for the first time in a month. Languidly wandering from shop to shop, and store to store, they simply enjoyed spending time together again. As it neared lunchtime, they almost lazily made their way to the nearest food stand, and settled in for some lunch. 

Settling in, the two spoke of their time over the course over the month, catching up, and getting to reevaluate their knowledge of each other. Hinata almost dissolved into stuttering at having Shino wandering around in a mesh shirt when she ran into him earlier, but she was able to keep from doing so.

Finishing their lunches, they decided to wander around the rest of the village and see if they could maybe find Iruka. Having gone a whole month without seeing the man, they knew Naruto was worried about him, so they went off to try and find him for the day.

It took them a while, but they eventually found him in the hospital, and he laughed and motioned them in. He had bandages all around his head and one arm heavily bandaged as well, but he was smiling happily to see them.

* * *

Finished with making lunch, Haku slid into his seat after making sure the puppies had food and water as well. Starting to eat, Haku thought back on another of the less happy memories of their month. He couldn't help but wonder just how Tsume and Hana could smile and be so happy around them. Naruto said it was because they didn't want to let Sasuke hurt them anymore, and he thought maybe Naruto was right. 

They likely mourned for Kiba in private.

_All five members of team 8 were asked to dine with the __Inuzuka__ for lunch that day, during the second week of their training month. They had realized team 8 were somewhat out of the loop, and decided to fill them in._

_"Come in, sit down, we've got a lot of bad news to share with you." __Tsume__ sighed, motioning them all to chairs. Once everyone was seated, and food was placed before them, __Tsume__ continued, "I was hoping not to have to burden you with this knowledge, but you'll likely need to know. Otherwise I'd have waited until after the exam."_

_"What is it, __Tsume__-sensei?" Naruto asked worriedly._

_"__There's__ a few pieces of bad news I need to give you." She sighed. "__Sasuke's__ turned traitor to __Konoha,__ and he took Sakura with him. They left the village, and headed towards __Otokagakure__." _

_"WHAT?!"__ Naruto shrieked, __leaping up and __silencing the other members of his team, "I knew the bastard was a bastard, but I never knew he was that bad!"_

_Haku stayed silent, having never met the boy, though from what he had heard from the other members of the team, he wasn't really too surprised. Shino's eyes narrowed after his initial murmur of 'what?' and a frown appeared on his face, likely trying to work out whatever she had yet to tell them._

_Hayate narrowed his eyes and decided that he and __Gai__ needed to have a 'talk' with __Kakashi__ soon._

_Hinata's__ eyes were wide in shock – at one point her father had wanted her to marry the stuck-up __Uchiha__ brat after all, and that had been one thing__ she had argued even when she had stuttered nearly every word. "What do you mean, what happened?" She asked shocked._

_"During the second part of the chuunin exam.__Orochimaru__ attacked team 7, and was chased off by Anko before she killed him. __Sasuke__ was bitten by the missing-__nin__, however, and given his curse seal. After carrying __Sasuke__ to somewhere that would be safer for the night, __Kiba__ and Sakura set up a shelter. That morning, __Sasuke__ woke up and… and he killed __Kiba__ and his partner __Akamaru__. He killed my pups." __Tsume__ growled, forcing the pain down in favor of anger._

_"__Kiba__…?" Naruto asked, falling back into his chair. "But… but…"_

_"Are you all right Naruto-kun?" Haku asked softly. Hinata and Shino seemed to be in shock, while Hayate started to look like he was planning something rather vicious._

_"Not… __Kiba__ was one of the few people back in the academy I could almost have called a friend… We played pranks on Iruka-sensei together…" Naruto whimpered as Haku rubbed his back._

_"I'm also proud to tell you of what we did to __Kakashi__, for not only allowing this to happen, but for worrying only about __Sasuke__ after finding out. We stripped him of his honorary __Inuzuka__ status, and the __Aburame__ stripped him of his status as a friend to them. The Hokage stripped him of his status as jonin instructor, and I heard he even sent an ANBU to watch __Kakashi__ at all times." __Tsume__ explained with a fierce smirk._

Haku sighed as he shook that memory off. He never met the dog boy, but he felt a small pang of loss for his death, likely because it had hit Naruto fairly hard. Naruto had never been actual friends with the boy, but he missed him all the same.

Haku stretched back in the kitchen chair and looked up towards Naruto's room worriedly. He had to be hungry by now. Haku got out of his chair and started to gather up a good sized lunch for Naruto to take up to him.

On his way up the stairs, he remembered one of the most amusing sights he had ever seen as well, about a day after the revelation of Kiba's death. Hayate and Gai, marching down the streets of Konoha with Kakashi hogtied to a pole between them, and dressed in pink spandex. Shreds of his newest issue of Icha Icha Paradise also floated around the distressed jonin.

That was when team 8 learned of Kakashi's noble background. That he was the son of Konoha's infamous 'White Fang'; a powerful ninja, and a swordsman to rival the Gekkou line; he was also an honorary Inuzuka with a pure white wolf. He had tossed aside his mission in order to save his comrades, thus disgracing himself, for over 20 innocent people died just so his two friends could live. He performed seppuku not long after, leaving Kakashi to be raised by the Inuzuka.

How he could have paid so little attention to the member of his team that was more or less family was unknown to everyone. Especially after finding out who had been the man's sensei. He was trained by the Yondaime himself.

Arriving on the landing, Haku headed towards Naruto room and called out, "Naruto? You hungry?"

"Yea. Thanks Haku!" He heard called out.

Haku laughed and put the food to the side so he could open the door. Once the door was opened, he picked up the tray again and brought it inside. "You really meant it when you said you were going to sleep for the day, didn't you?" Haku laughed.

"Yup." Naruto yawned. "I'll hang out with everyone tomorrow. After what Jiraiya and everyone else put me through… well, let's just say even the Kyuubi can only heal so much at a time."

Haku giggled softly. "True. I saw you stagger in beaten and bloody many times. What all did Jiraiya have you do?"

"Tried to get me to use the Kyuubi's chakra and to summon the boss toad. I eventually managed both, but it wasn't easy." Naruto yawned.

Haku giggled gently. "Well, rest up Naruto-kun. The finals are in two days after all."

"Yup!" Naruto chirped, digging into the food. As he sat up, it revealed that there were some bloodstains even on his pajamas, proving that it wasn't just Naruto being lazy. The fox really did need him to rest to finish healing him.

Once Naruto was finished swallowing down his lunch, Haku smiled and headed back downstairs to watch the pups again. "Kouhei! Kouken!" He called out softly as he put the tray aside. "Here Akuma!"

The two black pups and one white obediently came when called. Had anyone but a member of team 8 tried that, they'd learn just how sharp their teeth were. Making sure all three dogs were trailing after him, Haku led them outside to play for a bit.


	24. The Month from Hell – Part 3

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 24: The Month from Hell – Part 3

Yawning drowsily after Haku took the remains of lunch away, Naruto thought back to the rest of the 'training' he had been subjected too.

_At least one of the two hours a day he spent with __Tsume__ for training with the __Inuzuka__ was spent training his partner more than himself. The lessons to up his five senses had somewhat stopped after the first week until he learned to access the __Kyuubi's__ chakra, then he was able to up his senses to at least that of a canine, especially his sense of smell and hearing._

_His little buddy __Akuma__ was soon able to fight side by side with him in battle, and was strong enough to play with him as well, training his pup how to fight without harming him was __kinda__ tough. __Akuma__ still resembled a golden ball of fluff with legs than anything else, however. __Haku's__ twin pups are sleek and fluffy, with long graceful legs and large ears, while his still looks rather like a ball of fluff. When he asked __Tsume__ about that, she just laughed that some breeds grow quicker than others, and since none of them have purebred wolves, they will all advance at different speeds._

_Lessons with __Shibi__ became really interesting after the first week, once he was able to summon all the bees from his hive and all of them recognized him.__ As the hive grew, he finally learned how to make them a modified hive, so he could extract the honey that they wouldn't need for his and __Haku's__ use. Of course, Naruto sang the praises that his bees made the BEST honey. Haku could never help but laugh at him._

_His bees were able to take commands by the second week, and by the third they could actually be classed as ninja tools.__ By yesterday, it was rather normal to have a few bees hidden up in his hair for if they happened to be needed. They worked mostly off of a contract summoning, instead of the Aburame style bloodline. His bees didn't feed off his chakra - Even if they were supposed to, with how Shino's kikaichu treat his chakra, he wasn't sure what would happen to them._

Smiling drowsily as two of said bees in his hair buzzed around as if they knew he was thinking of them, Naruto chuckled. Stretching aching muscles again, he decided to try and remember in as much detail as he could, what all Jiraiya had put him through.

_"Alright brat!__ Today, we're __gonna__ try and get you to use the fox's chakra since you can't summon __anything larger than Gamakichi__ on your own!__" Jiraiya smirked. "Sit down and try to concentrate on the demon's chakra, then call some of it forwards instead of your own."_

_Naruto sat there for what had to have been nearly a half-hour, and not once did the red chakra feel like it was about to answer._

_"__Nothin__?"__ Jiraiya asked._

_"Nope."__ Naruto sighed._

_"Then let's try something else – exhaust your chakra. Use up as much of it as you can, and then try to make the red chakra answer." Jiraiya decided, looking at Naruto curiously._

_So, for the next hour or so, Naruto summoned as many shadow clones as he could, and used the most destructive/chakra draining __jutsus__ he knew on said shadow clones._

_Once he was exhausted, he dropped down to try and summon the red chakra for the last forty minutes or so._

_By the next day, Jiraiya knew he'd have to take a different approach. He grabbed the blond by the back of his neck the second he entered the clearing, marched over to the cliff while ignoring the blonde's worried questioning, and then threw him over the side. "Good luck brat!" Jiraiya called out._

_"Jiraiya you piece of--- Wait until Haku finds out about this!!" Naruto shrieked as he went down. "Oh fuck this is deep…!" He gasped._

_Twisting around to try and get closer to the wall, Naruto tried to find an actual handhold, but even reinforcing his grip with chakra, there was nothing to hold on to. Were he able to slow himself down, he might be able to climb up, but… there was no way to slow down. The walls of the canyon were nearly smooth._

_Naruto swallowed as he watched the distant ground come ever closer. Closing his eyes, he murmured, "Damn it fuzz ball, unless you want us both to die, I need to speak to you!"_

_Surprisingly, it seemed to work. __Naruto wasn't looking at the back of his eyelids anymore, but the inside of what seemed to be a massive sewer.__"__Eww__."__ Naruto mused. The stone walls were mouldy, the pipes were rusted, and the water smelled awful._

_He heard deep, rumbling laughter after his exclamation, and a fierce voice chuckled, "Over here, __blondie__."_

_Naruto turned, and gasped. The Kyuubi was huge! One of his fingers was likely the size of __Naruto's__ whole body! __The creature was longer and more slender than any fox he had ever seen, with almost rabbit like ears, and nine massive tails. Its eyes were glowing bright red, and its dark fur was the color of freshly spilt blood. The shadows of the cage seemed to dance over the laughing creature, and the only thing really holding the massive monster back were some bars and a scrap of paper with 'seal' written on it. Naruto gulped._

_"Enjoying the view kit? Don't we have more pressing matters to speak of?" Kyuubi smirked._

_"Yes…" Naruto gasped, shaking his head to clear it. "We got problems fox. If I can't learn to use your chakra in, like, the next five minutes, we're both dead."_

_"What?!__ WHY?!" Kyuubi roared, looking around as if he could see outside __Naruto's__ body if he just tried hard enough._

_"Long story short," Naruto started, catching the fox's attention, "This crazy sensei of mine, Jiraiya, decided I wasn't learning how to call up your chakra fast enough, and threw me off a cliff. The only chance now is if I can somehow summon up enough chakra to summon one of the larger toads on the contract, and I just don't have that kind of chakra."_

_"Aside from continued existence, what's in it for me?" The fox questioned warily. He was almost certain he could heal anything that occurred to their body, so long as Naruto was still trapped in his mind when they hit__ the ground_

_"Um… what about… __erm__… Hey! Wouldn't you find it rather cruel to be known as the greatest demon sealed in a weakling?! Make me strong Kyuubi, and I'll make sure no-one forgets you, even if I have to paint your image over the Hokage monument!!" Naruto smirked._

_The massive fox laughed. "On one condition brat – at least try and design your mind as something more welcoming then a sewer, and we've got a deal."_

_Naruto beamed. "__Deal! Now__, help me summon a massive toad!" Naruto whooped, opening his eyes and noticing just how close the ground seems to have gotten._

_"__Kuchiyose__ no jutsu!!" Naruto screamed, flying through the hand seals and biting his thumb to summon a toad. A moment later, he stood on what he believed was a massive stretch of orange. It took a moment longer to realize it was a giant toad's nose._

_"Who the hell are you brat? And what the hell was Jiraiya thinking, summoning me to a place like this and dropping a brat on my head?!" The massive toad yelled angrily._

_Naruto didn't seem to have heard the toad as he cried out, "__Woah__! You're almost as big as the Kyuubi!"_

_That at least, shut the toad up from anymore comments. "How do you know about the Kyuubi, brat?" He questioned warily._

_"Cause I'm Naruto! Future Hokage! Container of the nine-tailed fuzz ball!" Naruto proclaimed, looking dead into one of the toad's eyes with his usual foxy grin."And I just learned how to summon you!"_

_The massive toad just looked at the brat prancing around on his nose incredulously for a moment, before laughing. "Not bad kid! Not bad at all!!" Catching the startled __Naruto's__ attention, the toad continued. "Name's __Gamabunta__, boss of the toads."_

_Naruto grinned gleefully back. "Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!" Naruto laughed in return._

_Gamabunta__ laughed uproariously. "We'll see kid, we'll see. For now though, didn't you need to get up?"_

_Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Yup. Help?"_

_Gamabunta__ laughed, but didn't bother to argue, he just leapt up and nearly landed on the stunned Jiraiya. "I didn't mean for you to summon __Gamabunta__ brat!" Jiraiya yelped fearfully._

_Both blonde and toad smirked at that comment. "Then next time, think before you throw me off a cliff!" Naruto smirked viciously._

Naruto chuckled softly. The rest of the memory was spent rather enjoyably. Gamabunta made him practice riding on his head, and they chased Jiraiya around together. Just before the lesson had ended, Gamabunta threw Jiraiya into the woman's bath, and let the ladies beat the crap out of him.

Naruto stretched, and decided to head down and eat dinner with Haku. Slipping out of bed, he winced as a few wounds from Jiraiya's and Anko's 'training' pulled tight again. Even the fuzz ball was feeling rather tired after everything Jiraiya, Anko and the Inuzuka put them through in order to help Naruto use the fox's chakra at will. They were able to determine that he was only able to use, at most, one tail's worth of chakra at the moment. When he gets stronger, he may be able to use more.

* * *

"I'm glad you could make it Asuma. Please, have a seat." Kurenai sighed. She'd usually try to avoid situations where she's left alone with Asuma, but she needed to speak to him this time alone. She didn't know who else she could talk to about this. 

Asuma smiled as he slid into the offered seat. "So, what did you need to talk to me about Kurenai?"

She sighed. "Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba. Honestly Asuma, what do you make of it all?"

Asuma hesitated, looking around to make sure no one was listening, despite the knowledge that the genjutsu mistress likely warded their table similarly to a fortress. "Well… I'd like to say that it wasn't Kakashi's fault at all, but we both know that's bull. Everybody but him knew to keep at least one eye on the Uchiha except him. He seemed to think the kid could do no wrong. I'd also like to stand up for Sakura and say she was kidnapped… but everybody in the village knows that girl wasn't fond of her family, worshipped Sasuke, and had no real friends in the village."

Kurenai sighed. "That's what I thought too. But there's so much I still don't understand. You, Kakashi and I… we were such good friends at one point… when did that fall apart?"

"I have no idea Kurenai. Likely around the time he got saddled with a genin team rather than Sasuke as an apprentice." Asuma softly said.

Kurenai nodded sadly. "That makes sense, actually. I'd have loved to have had a genin team out of this bunch, but it seems I'll have to wait at least 'till the next group graduate. How're your team doing?"

Asuma smiled slightly. "Pretty good, actually. As a team, they're quite amazing. When split up, however… well, you say what happened when Ino fought Temari in the prelims."

Kurenai winced. "Yes. How is Ino after that? Is she alright? She was pretty banged up the last I saw her."

Asuma smiled proudly. "She was up on her feet before the end of the week kicking her team into gear again."

"Give Shikamaru my good luck for the third exam." Kurenai grinned.

Asuma laughed. "I'll be sure to let him know at least one female in Konoha seems to care about the outcome of his match!"

Kurenai chuckled, as the two of them slid into discussing happier topics for the moment. After all, the third exam was only two days away.

* * *

Naruto stretched as he slid awake with another jaw cracking yawn. "Tomorrow's the third exam!" Naruto grinned, "So today, I'm hanging out with my friends as one last attempt to relax!" 

Darting downstairs after getting showered and dressed, Naruto quickly ate dinner with Haku and then met up with Hinata and Shino. The four of them got to talking about how things have been for each of them , and what everyone did yesterday. Most of Naruto's wounds had healed overnight, but there were still a good few left to prove he wasn't being lazy for no reason.

When Hinata told them they had run into Iruka in the hospital, Naruto quickly decided that they needed to go and see him. No one argued.

Shino and Hinata led the way, and they invaded the amused Iruka's hospital room. The bandages around his head and his heavily bandaged arm worried Naruto a bit, but Iruka seemed fine other than that.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelped happily. "What happened to you?!"

Iruka only grinned even wider. "Sit down you four, and I'll tell you. I was waiting to tell you all at once."

They all managed to find chairs, or in Naruto's case, the foot of the bed, and sat down. Once he was sure he had their attention, he started to explain about his mission, and the duel with Asuma. He explained it in nearly blow by blow detail much to Naruto's awe. Once he was finished explaining what happened, he went silent, still grinning widely.

"But what was the odd mission and duel for?" Hinata asked curiously.

"I put my name up for the jonin exam." Iruka grinned, watching the stunned look slide onto all four of their faces. It was dead silent for a moment, before all four started firing questions at him. Iruka started to laugh.

"Alright! Alright! I'll tell you!" He laughed out, as Naruto gave him the biggest, watery puppy dog eyes on top of the many questions.

"Well, you see, about the exam… it was really tough, and it's always personalized to be your weakest points. So it's really too bad…" Iruka sighed, looking away as all four fell silent.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto gasped. "No! You had to have passed!" He yelped in disbelief. The other three made their own stunned comments, before Iruka turned, smirking to the genin before him.

"I passed!" He beamed.

There was dead silence, before Naruto talked him, yelling out about not scaring him, while Hinata laughed, Shino rolled his eyes and grumbled, and Haku giggled, and helped to hold the poor, laughing, jonin down so Naruto could tickle him in punishment.

"You **so** owe me dinner at Ichiraku's for that!!" Naruto cried out as he continued the assault.

"Okay! Okay!" Iruka cried out, literally crying he was laughing so hard. Who told his little bother about the fact he was so ticklish?!

* * *

After having left the hospital to allow Iruka to recover, Naruto, Haku, Hinata and Shino headed out to figure out where to go for lunch. Passing down a street, they all paused at hearing a female's voice crying out Naruto's name. 

Looking up, they saw Temari leaning half outside one of the windows of the apartment they were renting as she yelled, "Hey! Naruto! Bring your friends up! You guys can eat lunch with us if you want!"

Naruto grinned and called back, "Okay! Thanks Temari!"

The other three laughed softly but didn't argue as Naruto bounced up to the door, and led the way up to the sand sibling's floor. Knocking on the door, he was only vaguely surprised that it was opened by Kankuro.

"Hi Kankuro!" Naruto grinned.

Kankuro snorted but stepped aside. "'Lo blondie. I think half the village heard that invitation."

Naruto grinned in amusement, but shrugged. "Where's Garra?"

"In the living room." Kankuro chuckled, "I've been demanded to aid Temari again."

Naruto led his friends into the living room to introduce them to Gaara, especially Haku. He settled into talking with his friends happily. Ever since Jiraiya got at Gaara's seal and fixed it, Gaara's gotten much better. He's still fairly quiet, doesn't talk often, and still had a bad temper when angry, but he's no longer quite so violent, nor is his sanity in question. He also actually slept nowadays, though he still had the 'raccoon eyes', and likely always would.

They figured the 'raccoon eyes' were physical proof of who his demon is, like Naruto's whisker marks. If Haku had a physical representation of the Isonade, they had yet to figure it out; though Haku teased maybe it's what makes him seem so feminine. Hinata pointed out that since he wasn't a baby when the demon was sealed within him, maybe he didn't have something like that.

Gaara and Haku got along quite well, much to Naruto's joy. He had no idea of what Haku was talking to Gaara about, but it couldn't be too bad, as Gaara was smiling and Haku was giggling as they talked. When they were called into the kitchen for lunch, they quickly filed in and let Kankuro point them to their seats while Tamari and himself served the food.

Settling in, they started up a light conversation about the upcoming chuunin final exam. Being as it would start tomorrow morning, they were all nervous, even those who wouldn't compete.

When they finished eating, team 8 split up to head either home or to track down anyone they wished to talk to. Naruto and Haku followed Shino home to talk to his parents about the exam.

Hinata decided to walk home on her own, and carefully crept into the house. "Hinata." She heard her father call from the dining room. She swallowed worriedly, but went in to see what he wished.

"Yes father?" She questioned softly. She noticed his vaguely reproving look at her new outfit, and stood a little straighter defiantly.

"Hinata, I can accept your having lost to Neji. He is the greater warrior after all, what I cannot accept is that you seem to have taken a stronger drive to get stronger and were still too lazy to gather the strength to defeat him! He is only a branch member; he should have been no trouble for you!" Hiashi glowered, trying not to raise his voice enough to be heard outside the house.

Hinata narrowed her eyes and mentally cursed herself for regaining her stutter in the face of her father's ire. "I-I did my best father! I always h-have!"

Hiashi coldly said, "No matter Hinata. I've made my choice. You are no longer the heir of the Hyuuga clan, and will be relegated to the branch house within the month. Hanabi is now the chosen heir."

Hinata froze, eyes wide. _'__Wh__-__what? __How…__ WHY… I have to get out of here!'_

"I expect you to uphold your new duties to protect Hanabi starting immediately. You'll be branded a branch member sometime after the exams." Hiashi calmly stated, turning back to his scroll in obvious dismissal.

Hinata swiftly made a noise of shock, and flew up to her room. Looking around, she swallowed the fearful lump, and quickly packed everything she wanted to take with her. _'But where can I go? I couldn't impose on Iruka-sensei or Hayate-sensei, besides, father would likely check there first. I can't stay with Naruto and Haku, father would figure that out too fast, and he'd throw an even larger punishment for willingly being near Naruto-kun.'_

As she finished quietly packing everything she wished to keep, her byakugan active at all times to ensure her father nor anyone else noticed what she was up to, she closed the bag and swallowed. Thinking fast, she also eliminated many other places that she could have gone. The Aburame compound was a possible choice, save the fact they were teammates and her father would also guess that too easily, begging a place off another jonin, like Kotetsu or Anko would also prove very bad. The only real options she could think of were to hide out with another clan, but where…

She almost smacked herself on the head when she remembered she had been made an honorary Inuzuka along with the rest of the team. She grabbed her bag and leapt out the window, summoning Yuki when she was far enough away to run beside her.

Arriving at the gates to the Inuzuka compound, she was relieved to see Hana training her three dogs just inside the gate. "Hana!" Hinata cried out.

"Hinata? What's up?" She questioned worriedly, calling the session with her dogs to a halt as she walked over.

"Father's denounced me as the heir. If I stay at home, I'll be branded a branch member by the end of the week, most likely. Please, would it be ok if I stay here? At least until I figure something else out?" Hinata questioned fearfully, glancing warily over her shoulder.

"Come on in, we'll go ask mom. I don't really see a problem with it, you are an honorary Inuzuka." Hana admitted, stepping aside and walking quickly to the house. Hinata made sure Yuki was following her and that she had a good grip on the bag and quickly chased after Hana.

"Mother?" Hana cried out, entering the main house and motioning Hinata to keep following when she hesitantly stopped at the door.

"In here Hana!" Was heard from down the hall.

Hana led Hinata into a large room, obviously the study, where Tsume was laying against Kuromaru and reading over something with a look that screamed that she'd love a distraction.

"Tsume-sama, Hyuuga-Inuzuka Hinata respectfully requests permission to stay here." Hana recited, catching Tsume's startled attention. It had been a long time since anyone had requested a place to stay from her clan. The last one had been the lone wolf, Kakashi, when he was but a pup.

"Reasoning?" Tsume questioned, turning her gaze on Hinata.

Hinata swallowed, and prayed that she wouldn't slip up. "For sanctuary from my own family, Tsume-sama. They wish me harm and hardship."

Tsume froze, seemingly understanding what had happened. However, she needed to follow protocol. "How would they harm you? And why?"

Hinata shivered sadly. "They have denounced me as the heir, and relegated me to the branch family, effective immediately. I'm to be branded when the exams are over."

"Then Hinata-pup, do you accept me as your alpha? To do as I command while you live with my pack? To never harm another of my pack without just cause?" Tsume recited, a look of anger shimmering in her eyes for Hinata's family.

"Yes Tsume-sama. I will accept you as my lea-Alpha. I will do as you command so long as I live with your cl-pack. I will never harm another of your pack without just cause." Hinata stammered, holding back the urge to use leader, and clan respectively.

"Then I accept your request Hinata-pup. Now, explain to me what your family will likely do to try and catch you…"

* * *

After dinner, Hinata headed into the backyard for a view of her new home. She hadn't paid much attention during her training, because she was usually too tired to really care. Looking around, she quickly understood what Shino had meant by the agreement. While the Aburame's abundance of flowers and trees would made the perfect place to train an Inuzuka to track and hunt, the Inuzuka grounds were a beautiful place to spar. 

Green grass, nearly as far as she could see, it was literally light, small hills, and uneven terrain covered in green grass for miles. She could see the right side of the property, and the fence there, from here.

The only real plant life aside from the grass, was the fence made of bamboo, and bamboo shoots growing out near the village entrance. As far as she could see with her byakugan activated, there was a pretty large bamboo forest out near the back of the compound as well. Hinata made a mental note to ask how they were able to grow bamboo. She could understand the Aburame's, what with their chakra bubble, but the Inuzuka?

Granted, they did live in the fire country, so it was usually fairly warm, but bamboo was not native to fire country. It couldn't really survive, so far as she new, in these temperatures. Bamboo was native to rain country, with the heavy moisture and the humidity.

Looking down when she felt something bump into her leg, Hinata grinned and scooped up Yuki. "You don't mind that we live here now, do you?"

Getting a small yip from the wolf, Hinata grinned. Yuki could virtually live outside her tattoo here, unlike back home. Hinata thought she just might like it here.

* * *

I've been told I jump tenses far too often. Does anyone have a keen eye for that and any other mistakes I may have missed? And would you be willing to go over the chapters I've already written and help me fix them, and then future ones, up? I'm doing the best I can, and I'm really not seing anything else I can fix, considering how many times I've revised some chapters. Any help would be appreciated, even if you just point out a paragraph or two in a review or a PM where things seem wrong. Thanks for any and all help I've already recieved in the form of pointers from some awesome reviewers!


	25. Will of the Wolf

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 25: Will of the Wolf

Kakashi bolted away from the Hokage's tower, disoriented about just how… cruel people have been treating him for something his student had done. Granted, he never wanted a three-man team, he just wanted Sasuke as an apprentice. Sure, he should have noticed something may have been wrong, yes he should have paid more attention to his other two students, but… No one blamed the third for what Orochimaru had done!

Landing on a rooftop near the clan compounds, he felt his eyes drawn to the Inuzuka's first. He could understand their way of viewing and blaming him, quite a bit in fact. A wolf pack listens to the order of its alpha. As team 7's alpha, he was, by wolf law, directly responsible for anything his pack does, unless he labels them as traitors. Having been partially raised by the Inuzuka, and raised by his father, the dubbed 'white fang', he knew wolf law by heart.

Likewise, he should have immediately apologized to Tsume, the alpha of Kiba's pack. By wolf law, it was the first thing he should have done, and had he known before they told him, he would have. But what they had said hurt so much…

Why, of all people, did it have to be Obito's relative that betrayed them? Why did it have to be the one he owed a life-debt too by wolf law? Obito had given him his sharingan, and thus, it became Kakashi's duty to guard Obito's pack. His pack, which was the entirety of the Uchiha clan, that became only Sasuke.

Some alpha he turned out to be. By wolf law, he deserved everything done to him, and more. He had failed not one, but three packs. Four if you count the village. He failed the Inuzuka, the Uchiha and team 7.

Next, he turned his gaze to the Aburame's compound, and sighed. As an allied pack to the Inuzuka, they were fully in their rights to turn their backs on him as well. And bugs, working at least vaguely similar to wolves in their hierarchy, did what they likely perceived as their right for the death of young Kiba.

He then turned his gaze to the tower he just left. The Hokage was directly responsible for everyone in the village, and thus, he too had the right to punish him. Genin were supposed to be watched over and guided by their sensei. A genin should never be powerful enough to be able to go rogue on the village. Even Orochimaru had been unable to leave until after he became a jonin.

As their sensei, he truly was directly responsible for his team's actions until they reached chuunin. And he willingly bore the brunt of their anger on Sasuke's behalf. That boy meant so much to him, and Sasuke never even cared. He was the last relative of Obito left within the village, someone Kakashi owed his life-debt too, someone he could very well have seen as his own son… if he didn't already.

_'I have to do something… anything… I can't let it end like this…'_ Kakashi mused worriedly, as he turned to continue on his way home. '_And what of Sakura?__ Did she really go with him willingly…? With the way she treated him, I'd say it was likely, but… I can't really see that girl having left her home and her family, not even for __Sasuke__.'_

As he landed on his own roof, Kakashi sighed. He couldn't help but wonder as to why Gai and Hayate decided to take him down a few more pegs. Gai he could somewhat understand. The man was fiercely defensive of all those he cared for, and until recently, he had been one of those few. By breaking the beliefs Gai held for him, he likely devastated the man. He had never really considered him a friend… but the way Gai had acted, he had the sinking feeling Gai had proudly thought of him, his 'eternal rival', as a friend. And odd as the man was, in a sticky situation, you couldn't ask for a better friend. Gai had been known to stand against the odds, even the Hokage themselves, for what he believed in.

He couldn't understand Hayate though. Maybe he just decided to give Gai a hand, maybe his students knew Kiba, or maybe he was just disappointed in him too. He had always known Hayate as a kind, calm, usually gentle man, but like the man in the mission tower, Iruka he believed it was, it seemed Hayate had a vicious temper when provoked.

* * *

Sasuke paced in the room he was given, ignoring Sakura's sobs from where she was tied up in the corner. He was trying to figure out just WHY he didn't gain the mangekyo sharingan after killing Kiba. He just couldn't understand. The night his brother murdered his clan, he had gained his mangekyo sharingan, he had said it was because he had killed Shisui. 

Did that mean he needed to kill another Uchiha to gain the sharingan then? He had just assumed that Itachi gained the mangekyo sharingan from killing Shisui because he was his 'friend'. Sasuke snorted, he had never seen those two do anything but argue, like he and Kiba did.

Granted, the two were known to avoid the rest of the clan and hang out together, but… what made him gain the mangekyo? What about Shisui had been so important…?

* * *

Kakashi sighed and turned his gaze towards Otogakure. There wasn't much he could really do here, considering he couldn't even really face himself in the mirror anymore. Thinking hard, Kakashi nodded to himself and started for the gates. Just before he made it there, Gai appeared before him. 

"I can't let you leave Kakashi. Hokage's orders. You're on probation and cannot leave the village until the Hokage deems you no longer a threat." Gai proclaimed, calmer and colder than Kakashi could ever remember the man acting.

Kakashi sighed sadly. "I'm sorry Gai." He proclaimed as he quickly pulled his headband up and activated his version of the mangeko sharingan. He quickly tossed Gai into a relatively harmless genjutsu that would only hold for about an hour so he could make his escape.

Assured that Gai would be unable to come after him, Kakashi slipped past the guards and headed for Oto.

As he ran, he let his thoughts head where they will. He was unsurprised they drifted towards Sakura, the only one of his students he was truly unaware of the condition of. The more he thought about her, the less he believed she had left of her own choice. Sakura may have been many things, but stupid was not one of them. Even if she didn't tend to use the knowledge she had for much, she would know enough not to turn traitor on Konoha. At least, he hoped so.

He never really learned to understand his female teammate, not that he ever really tried, and he knew that now. The sick, twisting feeling in his gut only grew stronger whenever he remembered how he blatantly favored Sasuke over training the other two.

Shaking his head to clear it, Kakashi focused on what he knew he had to do.

* * *

Gai slowly woke up from where he was sprawled out on a rooftop and groaned painfully. His head was throbbing. It took him a moment to remember why, and then he shot to the Hokage's tower as swiftly as he could. 

"With the finals for the chuunin exams happening tomorrow morning, Kakashi couldn't have chosen a better time to run." The Hokage sighed after hearing from Gai. "With so many dignitaries and foreign ninja, I can barely keep track of the possible security breaches, let alone difficulties from within."

"So is there nothing we can do Hokage-sama?" Gai asked worriedly.

"No, there isn't. I just prey that Kakashi never learned of a certain piece of classified information." The third murmured, turning to look worriedly out the window and thinking of his former student.

* * *

As Kakashi neared the gates, he held his breath and walked up to the guards. "Kakashi?" One of the guards questioned fiercely. "What business do you have here?" 

Kakashi smiled, and stated, "I wish to join your cause of course."

Both guards paused, as if that wasn't the response they were expecting. The one on the left looked to their partner, and then vanished to go and speak to Kabuto.

As Kakashi awaited the verdict, he discretely burned the path he took into his mind, and set to memorizing everything he could see. As the guard came back, Kakashi nearly had a heart attack as he realized who the Sound's spy was.

"Kakashi. Why do you wish to join us?" Kabuto questioned warily. "I believed you completely loyal to Konoha."

"Though I'm loyal to Konoha, I'm far more loyal to Sasuke. Since he seems to be of some importance to you, allow me to guard over him." Kakashi responded.

Kabuto was silent for a moment, before he tilted his head to the side, and then all Kakashi saw was black.

When Kakashi came too, he looked around warily as he tried the chains on his wrists. The room was on the larger side, and was mostly bare, done in browns and whites.

"Don't bother trying to escape if that's what you're up to sensei." Kakashi heard from his blind side. Kakashi craned his neck around to try and see and barely withheld a gasp. Sakura was nearly black and blue, and completely disheveled.

"Did you happen to overhear what they plan to do with me?" Kakashi questioned as calmly as he could.

Sakura's eyes welled up with tears angrily. "They said you joined them. They said it was up to Sasuke when he gets back later what'll happen to you." She nearly spat. _'Well, I know she's not here by choice then.'_

The door swung open and Sasuke stormed in, launching his way towards the startled Kakashi to rip the man's mask off. "Hn. Why are you here Kakashi?" Sasuke growled, ignoring Sakura's gasp.

* * *

Hiashi sighed as he turned to look at a picture beside his bedside. It was himself, his twin, their wives, and their respective firstborn. Little Hinata had been so mischievous at that age, she also adored Neji. Neji looked completely amused with having Hinata chewing on a length of his hair. Nowadays, he'd likely fight her down for looking at him funny, if he thought he'd get away with it. 

Looking at the photo for another moment, he wrenched his gaze away to head over to the small desk piled with papers on one side. Pulling one of the papers from the other side up to the light, he grimaced again. He didn't know how many times his family would have to suffer, but he would do everything in his power to stop it.

First his beloved wife Keiko died bringing his youngest, Hanabi, into the world, then his little Hinata had been kidnapped by a Cloud nin when she was young, leading to the death of his twin as the price for retrieving her, Neji had grown cold and seems to hold onto a dream to destroy the main branch and now he had to make the most difficult choice of all.

He had to choose which of his daughters meant more.

He had a choice delivered to him by the council of elders not long after the preliminaries finished. The orders were that he would either name Hanabi as the heir and renounce Hinata to the branch house, so a suitable husband could be chosen for Hanabi, as their plans for Hinata fell through. Or he could leave his eldest, his sweet Hinata, as the heir and force her to live a life of misery as they would once more chose a suitable husband for her.

He had seen how Hinata had grown stronger, from interacting with the fox boy and the Aburame. He had witnessed her childhood crush on Naruto. When word of Sasuke's defection reached their ears, Hinata had hid it fairly well, but she was clearly relieved that meant she was no longer engaged to him. He couldn't bare to see the crushed look upon her face were he to force her into another arranged setup.

Hanabi however, his youngest reminded him completely of himself when he was younger. He had accepted the marriage to Keiko without a fuss, and had been surprised when he had grown to love the woman. She was sweet and kind, and had made him learn what emotions were, as like Hanabi, he had forgotten.

Hinata was too much like her mother in some respects. In others, as he was only recently beginning to see, she took after his own mother, her grandmother, though she never met her. She was fiery and fierce whenever angered, and the kindest person you ever could meet if you were of the rare few she treasured.

He hated to admit it, but Naruto had done more good for his eldest than he had ever done. He's watched how her confidence and determination had grown, and she's gotten so much stronger. He only wished he had been there to help it happen, rather than sitting on the sidelines to view the end result.

"Hiashi-sama!!" Someone roared from the other side of the door. Hiashi had his byakugan active before he even left his chair as he moved to the door and flung it open.

"Hiashi-sama, I've just gotten word, Hinata's taken her things from her room and left!" The branch member gasped.

Hiashi froze. "Find her. But do nothing else. I just wish to know where she is for now." Hiashi commanded.

"Yes sir!" The branch member yelped, turning to call numerous members of the clan to get to work on tracking Hinata down.

* * *

Kakashi rolled his visible eye as he was wrenched to his feet and dragged from the room. He would worry about Sakura later, for now, he needed to memorize the layout as best he could and hope they let him live. 

As they dragged him through numerous hallways and passages, Kakashi tried to memorize it all.

When they brought him into a large room and forced him to kneel before an empty throne, he was vaguely confused. Where was their leader? Where was Orochimaru?

Kabuto stepped out of the darkness to the left of the throne and chuckled at Kakashi's confused expression. "He's still somewhere within Konoha, plotting away your destruction. But don't worry, he left us our orders before he left." Kabuto smirked coldly.

"I meant what I said Kabuto. I wish to join your cause." Kakashi said as calmly as he could manage. He kept hearing the phrase, 'to be shinobi is to lie, betray, and stay loyal to your village and beliefs' over and over inside his head. He knew he didn't have many choices by this point, and he knew he had screwed many things up majorly, but he hoped to at least aid Sakura now.

"Well Sasuke? Any objections?" Kabuto smirked.

Sasuke stayed quiet for the longest time. Then he snorted, "None. He may be able to tell me why I never gained the mangekyou. If he proves useless, well, there will be a sharingan eye for your master to decide what to do with."

* * *

The Third Hokage of Konohagakure looked up at the monument, specifically the face of the Fourth and sighed. _'I know I've been slightly harsh on Kakashi, old friend, and that I allowed most of the village to turn on him. However, how it would have pained you to have seen what has become of your last living student…'_ The Hokage mused sadly, as he thought back to that horrid day. 

_The Great Kyuubi was attacking the village, and the Fourth Hokage had just appeared in his office with his newborn son in his arms. Once he looked around and saw that the people he asked for were in the room, the Third, his old sensei and seal master Jiraiya, and his student Kakashi, __Arashi __Kazama__ nodded._

_"My wife has just died bringing my son into the world. Now I need your aid to make sure when I finish the Kyuubi, life will be as well for him as is possible." __Arashi__ stated._

_"How can we help, old friend?" __Sarutobi__ questioned._

_"The only way I know of that will stop a demon, especially one as strong as the Kyuubi, will cost me my life. Jiraiya, I'll need your help to make it happen, though you won't be dying to help me. __Sarutobi__, you'll need to become the Hokage once again when I'm gone, at least for a time. And Kakashi, my friend, I need you to do the most important task of all. I need you to watch over my son for me when I'm gone." He softly explained._

_"To seal the demon, there is only one choice – to seal it within a newborn child. I can't ask another family to give up one of their children if I'm unable to give up my own, so Naruto will be the __Kyuubi's__ jailor. I want him to be seen as a hero, __Sarutobi__-sensei. He will be giving up his chance for a normal life, to let these people live in peace." __Arashi__ continued softly, turning to look down at his young son._

_"Is there no other way…?" Kakashi hesitantly questioned, looking at the Fourth._

_"No. There is no other way.__ Come on Jiraiya – Let's do this at my place." __Arashi__ stated as he leapt from the window._

Still looking up at the face of his old friend Arashi, Sarutobi nearly cried as the next memory hit him.

_As Jiraiya leapt into the Hokage tower, the crying blonde baby in his arms, Kakashi and __Sarutobi__ looked up. "It's over." Jiraiya said painfully, swallowing past the lump in his throat. "His body's still out on the battlefield where he fell – he told me to bring Naruto back first."_

_Sarutobi__ knew his ANBU would retrieve the body of the Fourth and bring him back for a proper burial, so he turned his gaze to __Arashi's__ now orphaned son._

_"You know I can't watch over a kid Hokage-__sama__." Kakashi said quietly._

_"I'll try and arrange for him to live with his aunt in a week or two, after things settle down. Just watch him until then, please Kakashi. I'll personally look after him if you're needed elsewhere." __Sarutobi__ requested._

_"I'll swing by whenever I can too." Jiraiya added._

_Kakashi nodded, and accepted the small blonde baby in his arms.__ Maybe __Rin__ wouldn't be too upset about looking after a kid for a while, as it was their sensei's son._

The Hokage turned and headed back up to his tower, and swallowed down his anger at the village. Not a day had passed before they had been screaming for Naruto's head, his unknowing aunt amongst them. Kakashi had grown colder towards Naruto once he was realized to be the boy's guardian, and lost sight of the fact that he should be caring for his sensei's son when he had heard Rin had died on the field fighting the Kyuubi, not moments before the beast was sealed.

Since then, Kakashi seemed to have forgotten who the child was, and who his parents were. Most of the village seemed blind to the fact that he looked almost exactly like his father, even those who love the child seemed unknowing to that fact.

And poor Naruto hasn't even been told about who his parents are. At first, the Hokage had waited to reveal who his father was for the sheer fact that the child had no one to really hold onto when it was revealed to him it was his father that made his life so difficult. Now, he waited to see if Naruto and his cousin would become close enough to support each other. He knew it would be a painful blow for the two of them to find that out.

During the first few days after the Kyuubi's sealing, after he realized the townspeople and the ninja wouldn't view Naruto as the hero he deserved to be, he had changed the child's last name. Instead of Naruto Kazama, he became Naruto Uzumaki – one of the Hokage's greater schemes if he thought so himself. It protected Naruto, and his still living family as the last name was something he made up, rather than give the poor boy the family name of the family who hated him without even knowing he was related to them.

The Fourth and his wife had, after all, been rather careful as to who knew about them. Thus, logically, the few who knew who Arashi was married to, would have never connected the dots, as not many seemed to have figured out Naruto was Arashi's son.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the Hokage returned to his desk, and his paperwork with a shudder, and hoped the poor boy continued to become close to his cousin. Maybe he'll have a family yet.

* * *

"Sir, we've received news that Hinata's been claimed an honorary Inuzuka and has claimed sanctuary with them." A branch member reported after being allowed entrance. "And the council demands we bring her back." 

"No. She's still within Konoha's walls, we will leave her be for now. I'll deal with the council if they have anything they need to say. Leave now, and well done." Hiashi coldly stated.

Once he was sure the branch member left, Hiashi let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. The council… pah. He wouldn't subject his oldest daughter to them any longer. Hanabi can be their little plaything, it may even help his youngest, but he would no longer aid them in ruining his eldest's life.

For now, if she wished to stay there, he would let her. Anything to keep her from being marked with the cage bird seal. He'd hide her himself if he thought he'd get away with it.

Hiashi was, however, rather surprised at her choices of sanctuary. The Aburames would have been where he thought she'd go, as both of her teammates, and that medic friend of hers already live there. Then again, she did have a crush on the fox-boy for the longest time, he thought she might have started to get over that now, but it would still be likely awkward for her to stay there.

Either way, he'd deal with the council. He'd sleep much easier knowing she's so far away from them.

The branch house may think they've got it bad, listening to the demands of the main house, but they've never had to deal with the council. They've never had to choose between their children at the whim of the council.

He knew he'd need to have a talk with Neji soon. He'd tell the boy the truth and hope he'd be willing to look after Hinata if the council got their way.

* * *

After hours of interrogation from the sound nins, he was thrown back into Sasuke's room and pinned to the floor again. Apparently, they wanted Sasuke to prove his loyalty by testing Kakashi's. 

As he raised his head up to look at his sleeping student, he vowed to the girl silently that he would get her out of here. He's done some horrible things in his life, and sadly it took Konoha's turning on him a second time to knock him straight.

The first time they turned on him was when they found out he was housing and looking after Naruto, and looking back now, he wonders painfully, why he ever gave that up. He had been so bloody stupid…! That child had been the sweetest, kindest thing that had ever happened to him, though he could barely remember why he had ever had the kid. All he remembered was that it had something to do with his old sensei.

Swallowing back the anger and sadness, Kakashi swore to his dead sensei that he would do everything in his power to make things right again. And if he ever made it back to Konoha, he'll try and apologize to Naruto for ever leaving the poor boy to fend for himself.

For now, however, he needed to sleep, regain his strength, and figure out a way to get both himself and Sakura out of here. By the looks of her, she wouldn't be much help, so it will be completely up to him to save the both of them. And with the way his days were looking, that wouldn't be an easy situation at all.

* * *

A/N: I'm really not feeling so well right now, so I'm sorry if you'll have to wait a little longer for the next chapter than normal. I love writing this story, but I'm not going to mangle it just to get it out faster. 

In better news, the great SolusMagus has agreed to go over my chapters and help me fix the grammer, tenses, ect. Starting with the older chapters. If she agrees to stick around for the newer ones when we're finished with the old ones, I'll maybe run them past her before I post, but that won't likely be for a while yet. Anyways, thank you Magus!


	26. The Finals

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 26: The Finals

Naruto entered the stadium and looked around at his fellow finalists as he lined up as Kurenai demanded. Temari flashed him a slight smile as he stepped in between her and Shino who nodded in greeting. Gaara's lips twitched into a small smile in greeting as well. Kankuro glanced at him for a moment and gave him a slight nod. Shika, Neji and Dosu didn't even bother to look over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests… Welcome and heartfelt thanks for gathering here in Konohagakure… for the Chuunin Selection Examination!" The Third bellowed out after a worried look at the empty seat beside him. "We will now begin the matches of the final round… between the eight candidates who advanced to the preliminaries."

Naruto noticed the Sand trio's confused look up at the empty seat beside the Hokage. "Father, the Kazekage, should be sitting there." Temari breathed quietly. Naruto slowly nodded.

"Please sit back… and enjoy!" The Hokage finished.

Naruto chanced a look up at the stands to see how many of his friends he could see. He saw Hayate and Iruka standing with Hinata and Haku in the front row of the stands to his left, and the Inuzuka and Aburame clans standing in the next segment of the stands to their right. Kotetsu and Izumo were flanking the Hokage, and Anko and Ibiki were likely in ANBU uniform at the moment, patrolling. Naruto almost grinned. It wasn't too hard to find Ibiki, he towered over most of the others, and he figured the slender and shorter ANBU next to him was Anko. Yugao was likely amongst the masked forces at the moment as well. He had no clue about Genma. The man could be weird at times, though Naruto had a hunch that he, too, may be an ANBU.

Kurenai caught the contestant's wandering attention as she stepped forwards to show them the schedule. "Alright. First match will be Temari vs. Shikamaru. Now, before we begin, I have a few announcements. Listen, all of you. This is the last exam. The landscape may be different, but just as with the preliminaries, there are no set rules. You fight until one of you dies or admits defeat… unless I determine that a clear winner has already been determined, in which case… I'll stop the match before anyone's killed, understand…?"

Once all of the contestants nodded, Kurenai continued. "Good. Then go out there when it's your turn, and give an audience a show they won't soon forget! Shikamaru, Temari, you're up first! The rest of you, head into the waiting room you had to come through to get here."

"I gotta be first? So troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed as he stepped into the center of the arena. Temari smirked as she heard him and got ready to face the lazy boy.

Once Naruto and the others were in the waiting room, Kurenai cried out, "The first match of the finals… begins now!"

Temari whipped her fan around and unleashed a powerful burst of wind straight at Shikamaru for her first move. As the sand and dust was kicked up, no one was able to see what had happened. When the dust cleared, it was to see Shikamaru attached to a tree to avoid her blast.

"That it? Man, I'd rather just go nap somewhere…" Shikamaru sighed.

"Nap?! I'll show you a frickin' nap!!" Temari growled angrily.

As Temari attempted to hit him with one of the blades of wind she was throwing out, Shikamaru leapt into the trees near the back of the stadium, where there was many shadows to conceal himself in.

As Temari paused warily to eye him in his hiding spot, Shikamaru looked up at the clouds lazily. '_Oh… how I envy the clouds… they're so free… I have absolutely no desire to fight. The whole reason I became a ninja in the first place was so that I could live my life the way I wanted…_' Turning his gaze back down, he was surprised to see the deep gouges in the ground from where Temari's wind had struck earlier. '_…But… It looks like it won't be that easy…_'

Out in the waiting room, Naruto was sprawled out on a bench, listening to Shino softly pass along information he gained from his kikaichu about what was happening out in the arena. Gaara was on his other side, letting Naruto use his legs as a footrest so he could listen in too. He was completely unconcerned with the sound-nin; he'd kill him if he tried to leave. Kankuro was sprawled out with his puppet Karasu on another bench he pulled over and the floor respectfully.

Naruto still remembered his first 'meeting' with Karasu. Kankuro had gotten pissed at always having to set the dishes whenever Naruto and the others came over, and had sent Karasu to do so instead. Naruto had been confused to see Kankuro walk in, and yet hearing the plates being placed on the table, and had slowly turned around. Seeing the puppet, he had screamed, and set the sand siblings into peals of laughter. That was likely the hardest Gaara had ever laughed.

Naruto knew Temari was strong and smart, but he had heard Shikamaru was a genius. "Hey Shino? What do you know of the Nara techniques? I only know what Temari does… that they can control people with shadows." Naruto quietly asked during a lull in the fighting.

"So far as I've heard, if their shadow touches you, it can make you mime the Nara's movements, paralyze you, or knock you out, if the Nara is strong enough. I only know that much because of my kikaichu, though it took them a while to find that out, I looked into it back during the prelims." Shino softly explained.

They were trying to keep as quiet as possible for a few reasons – listening to the match, leaving Neji and Dosu out of the loop, and they were unsure if they were allowed to talk – there were three ANBU guards in the room; one near the door to the arena, one near the door leading outside, and the other one guarding the door that led to the washrooms, likely because washrooms had windows they could escape through.

"Don't underestimate my sister – she's far better at distance fighting then close combat. That lull was likely her devising her strategy and figuring out how far away she needed to be to stay safe." Kankuro quietly smirked.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I'd like your sister to win, she's cool. But I remember Shikamaru from my academy days – he could likely outsmart a Jounin." Naruto countered.

As they heard the sound of Temari's fierce cry from inside the waiting room, Kankuro laughed. "Sounds like Temari's the winner out there!"

As the crowds started to roar in amazement, and they heard Temari shriek, Naruto craned his head up to look longingly at the door to the arena. "What's going on out there?!"

Shino grunted. "I don't know. My kikaichu can't get close anymore, and over the sounds of the crowd, they can't hear anything either."

As the crowds went dead silent, all 4 held their breath.

"The winner is… Temari!!" They heard Kurenai cry.

"Told ya." Kankuro smirked.

"Temari, Shikamaru, you may join the stands, the waiting area, or leave the arena if you wish. The next match will be… Shino vs. Kankuro!" Was heard from the arena.

Temari headed back for the waiting area to wait with her siblings while Shikamaru limped for the stands. As she passed the two on her way in, Temari offered both her friend and brother a fierce grin.

Shino and Kankuro looked at each other for a moment, before shrugging and standing up. "May the best ninja win." Shino offered, holding out his hand. Kankuro gladly accepted.

They both walked into the arena and allowed the announcer to point them to their places. "Match start!" Kurenai cried out.

Both ninja swiftly leapt away from each other and landed to eye each other warily. They both knew the basics of the others fighting style, and Shino knew they were the worst matchup possible for each other. If his kikaichu were able to eat through the chakra strings, he'll have won the match. If Kankuro overloads his kikaichu with chakra, however, he'll lose.

Hearing the muttering of the crowd in the background, Shino began to plan.

Not wasting any time, Kankuro unleashed Karasu. Shino already knew about the puppet's existence, thus his usual ploy of a surprise attack would be nearly useless here.

Shino watched as Karasu righted itself and swiftly called his bugs. He was hoping to keep this fight long range for as long as possible, but as Kankuro and Karasu leapt for him, he knew that was a hopeless wish.

As the puppet master and his puppet attacked, Shino tried to hold both off as well as command his bugs to destroy the chakra strings. Dodging another strike to the head, Shino cursed under his breath as he realized Kankuro had supercharged every string. It would kill too many of his kikaichu to try and chew through that.

"Damnit Kankuro." Shino growled.

Kankuro just laughed. "Like you said: May the best ninja win!"

* * *

Kimimaru slunk along the halls within Otokagakure angrily. Ever since Orochimaru-sama had left, Kabuto had acted like he ran the place. He knew he had fallen out of Orochimaru's favor ever since his sickness was discovered, but the lack of respect shown to him now was, quite frankly, disgusting.

Truthfully, he was beginning to wonder why he was still here. Even death had to be better than this.

Hearing murmuring coming from Sasuke's room, he narrowed his eyes even further, and crept closer, silently listening to the young woman and Sasuke's former sensei talking within. Realizing a moment later they were devising an escape plan, he wavered for a moment, before stepping inside the room, closing the door with a near silent click behind him.

* * *

"Winner: Shino!" Kurenai yelled out. The outcome of the match had to have been one of the oddest she'd ever even heard of, let alone seen. In the end, it was the winner getting medical attention after being carried into the stands, while the loser walked up to join the spectators.

Kankuro had actually conceded defeat – though not without trying. Shino had had him in some form of a stalemate that was slowly draining them both to exhaustion, when Kankuro had given up.

"Good match." Kankuro grinned, walking past the Aburame as Haku and Hinata patched him up after two if the medic-nins brought him up to them. Only those in critical condition were brought to the hospital during the exam.

In the waiting room, Naruto grinned at hearing that Shino won, while Temari pouted. "Well, those two were a horrible matchup anyway." She sighed. "You know as well as I it would only take a small misstep for either of them to lose that match. There each other's worst opponent."

"Yup. But Shino still won." Naruto cheekily grinned. Tamari leaned over and lightly smacked him upside the head.

"Next match: Naruto vs. Neji!" Kurenai was heard screaming over the cheers from the last match.

Naruto nodded sharply at Temari's soft comment of, 'good luck!' and headed out into the arena, Neji having beaten him out. Once they were standing in the middle of the arena, facing each other, Naruto raised his fist up and coldly reminded his opponent, "I've said this once before… **I vow to win**!"

As Neji activated his Byakugan, Naruto slid into his ready stance.

"Now then… match three…" Kurenai cried out, "Begin!"

Neji smirked. "It's more fun this way anyway… I can't wait to see the despair in your eyes… when the truth finally dawns on you…"

"Quit yapping, and see of you can back your claims up you dumbass!" Naruto challenged, barring his teeth.

* * *

"This way." Kakashi breathed, pulling Sakura more firmly onto his back as she gave a smothered whimper of pain. "Hold on Sakura."

Carefully creeping past the border guards, he worried about the far-too-easy escape. _'Why haven't we been discovered yet? What's going on?'_

Hearing a twig crack behind him, Kakashi froze. _'Shit…'_

* * *

Naruto snarled, ducking another hit. His left arm was already unresponsive from being hit near the start of the fight. He had quickly realized that hand-to-hand fighting against the arrogant asshole was pointless and nearly suicidal.

"You wish to be Hokage? Don't make me laugh." Neji sneered, twisting around to land another hit to his already useless left arm. It was really beginning to hurt quite badly.

Naruto growled, and twisted around. "Kage Bunshin!" He screamed, suddenly surrounded by at least 20 clones of himself.

"Pathetic." Neji snorted.

LINE

"GO SAKURA!" Kakashi screamed out, twisting around to drop her to the ground.

"But-!" She gasped out, barely able to stand.

"GO NOW!" Kakashi cried out, uncovering his sharingan as the Oto-nin advanced.

Sakura whimpered fearfully, but turned tail and ran as fast as she was able in the direction she knew Konoha was.

Kakashi managed to toss two of the Oto-nin into a tree hard enough she could practically hear each individual bone break before she had even left sight range, and was soon fighting the other five.

'_I've disgraced my name, my family, my students and my village.' _Kakashi mentally counted off as he watched the last five who had found them charge at him. _'I will not let the last person who depends on me down. I won't let them have Sakura!'_

* * *

"You really want to be Hokage, huh?" Neji snorted, as Naruto groaned in pain upon the ground. "I really don't think that's going to happen… I can always tell with these eyes of mine… abilities and talents are determined at birth, and those abilities tell the fate that lies before us all. Your entire destiny is set in stone from the time you're born."

"Really?" Naruto snorted. "Whoever wrote mine didn't get that memo then!" He cried out, leaping to his feet as the red chakra burned through him, opening his sealed tenketsu as he screamed out in a mix of pain and determination.

"What?!" Neji gasped, seeing a faint image of a red nine-tailed fox, only visible due to his eyes, surrounding his recovered opponent.

* * *

Sakura staggered as fast as she could through the forest, hoping fearfully that she could make it to Konoha. _'Please, let me make it home.' _She silently begged, feeling tears gather in her eyes. _'Please.'_

Behind her, she knew Kakashi was giving everything he could in his weakened state to make sure she would make it back alive. _'I can't believe you would fall to this Sasuke… but I know where my loyalties lie, and they aren't with you!'_

She heard a pained cry behind her and frantically tried to pick up her speed to get her back to the village faster. _'And please let Kakashi-sensei be ok. I forgive him, I do. Let him live. He was no worse than I was, blinded in his own way by Sasuke… let him live.'_

* * *

Kabuto laughed silently behind his mouse ANBU mask as he watched the battle below. _'Now, where's Orochimaru-sama hiding…?'_

Looking around, he spotted one of the few female ANBU, and couldn't suppress a terrified shiver at the sight of her. _'Who… Who could make me fear them like this?'_ He mentally gasped. _'And why do I fear them so? It can't be another of Orochimaru-sama's disguises – I stopped fearing that man long ago So who is this?'_

* * *

"Nobody but ME determines what I do!" Naruto yelled, leaping for the stunned Neji. Connecting his fist with Neji's jaw, he sent his opponent flying back.

Neji staggered to his feet with a growl, shaking slightly and still seeing the image of the red chakra burned into his eyes when he looked at Naruto. "What…?" He gasped out, watching Naruto come at him again.

Seeing the blonde coming closer, Neji snarled, snapping out of it and slipping into a specific stance. "You are now within the boundaries of my eight trigrams." He smirked as Naruto just kept charging. "Gentle fist… eight trigrams, 64 palms." Neji nearly purred.

Naruto smirked as he heard this, and changed his course just slightly as he saw Neji's leading strike come at him.

* * *

Sakura nearly cried in relief when she saw the gates of Konoha in the distance. _'Yes! Home… Now, please, let me in!'_ She desperately sobbed.

Arriving at the gates, she didn't even argue being grabbed like an intruder. "Fine, ok, hold me prisoner until I can talk to the Hokage, just let me in." She sobbed out.

The guards exchanged a look over her head, but brought her in and took her to the hospital, with no less than four ANBU guards.

En route there, she had told them about Kakashi's rescuing her, and where he was last seen. She just hoped they would hold him too, instead of killing him when they find him. She may not have known details, but she was positive he had left Konoha believing he really had turned traitor in order to get to her.

As she was put under with a sleeping jutsu to let the medics work, she couldn't help a slight, pained smile. _'Home…'_

* * *

Neji's yelp of "What?!" was likely heard throughout Konoha as Naruto wavered after taking all 64 strikes, and 'poofed'. He couldn't understand. No clone could take that kind of a beating…

As Neji pulled back from the vanished clone with a shocked look on his face, Naruto leapt from beneath the ground to gasps of amazement that swiftly became cries of awe. "Crescent Moon Dance!" Naruto cried, splitting into four, as he moved though the technique he had only truly mastered on the last day of training.

Careful as he was to cause no fatal wounds, the Jounin-level technique was too much for the exhausted Hyuuga who fell to the ground. "How… did you ever get so strong? You… the dead-last…?" Neji coughed out.

"Because I never gave up." Naruto's voice, no louder than normal, was heard clearly throughout the silent arena and clear into the waiting room. "No matter how many were against me, no matter the situation, I have never, and will never, give up."

Neji looked up at Naruto as his vision started to go dark. "Maybe I was wrong…" Neji silently whispered, a small smile appearing on his face "Maybe there is hope for even me…"

Naruto grinned tiredly as he looked up at Kurenai. She snapped herself out of her shock to whisper, "Winner: Naruto."

There was dead silence for a moment, before the cheers started. A moment later, they became nearly deafening roars. Naruto just laughed weakly and leapt to the stands, landing between his sensei and Haku.

"How bad are you hurt?" Haku asked softly.

Naruto just whimpered.

"Last match! Dosu vs. Gaara!" Kurenai yelled after the cheers died down.

As the two competitors took to the arena, Kankuro and Temari both swiftly joined the stands to grill anyone they could about what they had missed with Naruto's fight.

As the match started, Haku managed to get Naruto's shirt off with Hayate's help. "What on earth happened to you?!" Haku gasped, seeing the mass of darkening bruises.

"The 64 palm strike thingie." Naruto groaned.

"I thought that was a clone?" Hayate asked, startled. He knew better than anyone that Naruto was learning to use that technique in ways he had never even thought possible. Creating a clone that could take that kind of a beating didn't seem that hard to believe, if it was Naruto who created it.

"I wish." Naruto laughed painfully. "Bastard could see through my clones by that point, and I didn't have enough energy left to create one solid enough to take that many hits as well as fool him. I just kept one hidden off on the side to switch with me about half-way through the attack. **He** didn't know that though." Naruto smirked.

Haku, Hayate, Hinata and Shino all laughed while Haku and Hinata set to doing what they could for Naruto's bruises after determining that that was all that was wrong.

As they heard the audience cheer, and Gaara's opponent scream, they looked over to see the man was armless and calling out his forfeit.

"Winner: Gaara!" Kurenai yelled out. "Congratulations to the victors, and thank you for your time Lords, Ladies, Hokages, and guests. The ceremony to declare who all made Chuunin will be held tomorrow, for now, rest up, heal up, and enjoy your well-earned praise."

Roars from the spectators in delight had the various victors grinning proudly. "Everyone in the finals made a fine showing, and your villages should be proud to have you! Thank you!" Kurenai finished.

* * *

Kabuto smirked lightly as he crept out of the arena, launching out over Konoha. He had an invasion to set off after all, as Orochimaru-sama hadn't told him to do otherwise. Though he was very careful to make sure to stay far away from the female ANBU as he escaped.

Anko's wolf-mask covered head snapped up and looked over towards the direction she had smelt large amounts of fear earlier. _'I thought I just smelled snake… well, more like rodent, but kinda snakey…'_

* * *

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Ok, I think I'm gonna end this Arc when I get to about chapter 32 (as my plans have it). I've got my idea for what I want as the ending of the fic, but no idea of how to get there. ; So until I figure that out, I'll just make sure to bring the story to a not-so cliffhanger part.

Unless you think it would be better to pause it now. ;

I'm really trying not to abandon this story, but again, I have no idea of how to get from point A to point B.

…And I'm not sure how well this chapter will seem written – I kinda bounced around a lot, but I didn't really feel up to writing large chunks of battle for this chapter.

And for those of you curious/worried about pairings, I'll only say this:

There WILL be pairings/hints of pairings/feelings between two people of the same gender, along with straight pairings. Naruto will be with a girl by the end (Though I won't say who yet – it won't be much longer before you'll likely find out), but that doesn't mean there won't be feelings aimed at him by others of both genders.

I would have killed to have made this story be Naruto/Haku, but this story is more of a series of experiments for my writing, so I'm covering many of my weaknesses. I can write male/male or female/female far easier, so this story has at least the main pairings as straight. Likewise, my battle scenes used to suck. I'd like to think they're getting better. Anyone who read the original version of this story, back when the wave arc was happening in chapter 5, should be able to agree, that I've gotten much better.

I have no issues with any such things. If you do, I highly advise you not to read my work. Especially the side-stories I'll write and release at some point after finishing Dance. It will have a lot of 'what-if's'.


	27. The Invasion

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 27: The Invasion

The six members of the ANBU unit sent upon this mission flew through the forest, seeming to be less than even shadows to the creatures they passed. Leaping between a doe and her fawn, neither animal even seemed to notice their presence before they were gone again.

As they got further from the village in the direction they were told to go, they began to hear the sounds of fighting, and swiftly headed towards the battle. Breaking the tree line, they quickly and quietly killed off the eight Oto-nin they came across, and leapt around the lone ninja left standing who wasn't one of their number.

The silver-haired ninja wavered on his feet for a moment, as his body realized the fight was over, before he willingly turned to the ANBU leader and held out his hands tiredly.

"Good choice Kakashi. You're coming with us." The Hawk-masked leader proclaimed.

* * *

"How are you feeling Sakura?" The Third Hokage asked the worried genin.

Sakura swallowed warily, but softly proclaimed, "Much better, Hokage-sama." She fidgeted with her blanket, uncomfortably aware that she was not only unarmed, but naked beneath the thin hospital sheets. It was also rather hard to ignore the ANBU at both the door and the window.

The Third smiled lightly. "Good. Now Sakura, I'm sure you're aware there are quite a few questions I need answered from you, and any extra detail could be greatly beneficial. Depending on what I hear from you now, will determine whether you need to go to the ANBU Interrogation Unit, as you are only a genin, and a minor at that."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." The young woman sighed. "I'll answer everything I can."

* * *

"For those of you curious as to why we only had one round this year, firstly, I assume you all agree that this year held a spectacular number of amazing battles!" Kurenai called out.

The stands became temporarily deafening.

"Secondly, any additional rounds of fighting would have been nearly useless, as even most of the winners were quite exhausted, and/or harmed by the end of their matches. They gave it their all this year, and the winners were not so clear-cut as to walk away unharmed!" Kurenai continued over the applause.

"Now, I'm sure you've all noticed our Hokage isn't with us for the ceremony at the moment, it was a minor issue that only the Hokage could deal with. Now, we will commence the Chuunin Advancement 

Ceremony!" Kurenai called out, giving a quick look to Kotetsu and Izumo who had passed on what the Hokage wished of her to say on the matter.

"Shikamaru! Temari!" Kurenai called out, "Step forwards and receive your vests. You have both advanced to Chuunin!" The crowds roared as Kurenai swiftly placed their vests on the both of them and did them up. Both smiling widely stepped to the side as motioned.

"Kankuro!" Kurenai next called. "Being a Chuunin isn't only about being strongest, but knowing when to back down. Chuunin are leaders! And you have earned that right!"

The crowds continued to call their agreement as Kurenai now called out, "For the rest of you, good job, but I'm afraid none of you have yet shown the outstanding leadership qualities we value in our Chuunin. Congratulations everyone, and for those who didn't make it, good luck next time!"

The cheers continued, as Naruto cursed softly under his breath.

"No worries Naruto. We'll just try again next year." Shino softly reminded him.

Naruto grinned weakly, turning to look up at Hinata's smiling face in the crowds. "Yea." He murmured, "Together."

Shino smirked lightly as Naruto burst into an honest grin as he threw in his own applause.

* * *

"Thank you Sakura." The Hokage murmured.

"What about the sound-nin?" She asked through her tears.

"As there is no guarantee he really did help you – he could have made the trap you both fell into – I cannot risk valuable resources to go and retrieve hi. He may not even wish to be retrieved." Sarutobi sighed.

Sakura just nodded sadly.

"Now, I have some grave news for you. Are you able to hear it now?" Sarutobi asked the sniffling genin.

"Yes." She whispered, quickly pulling herself together.

"Firstly Sakura, you can never be a ninja again. Your injuries were far too severe. On top of that, you should be amazed you'll even ever be able to walk." Sarutobi murmured, giving her time to digest this devastating piece of news as she burst into tears.

"There's more, isn't there?" She choked out.

"Yes…" He murmured warily. "Sakura… I had the nurse check the results ten times, and every time came back positive. You're pregnant."

Sakura felt her tears well up again as she wrapped her arms around her mid-section. "What…"

"That's up to you." Sarutobi softly murmured, not having the heart to tell her just how pissed off most of the council would be if she decides not to keep the unborn Uchiha.

"I'll keep it." She whispers painfully. "I can't just kill it because of who its father is."

"I'm proud of you Sakura. And if you need any aid, just let me know, and I'll do whatever's in my power to make it happen." Sarutobi stated. "You've proven to me you're still a loyal member of Konohagakure."

Sakura gave him a weak smile back. "My parents…?"

"I already had an ANBU speak with them before you woke up, just in case things went either way. I'll go speak with them personally now Sakura. You get some rest." He softly told her, standing up. "ANBU, guard this room – there's a possibility someone from Oto may know this already – and if they do, they'll be after this girl."

Both ANBU swiftly bowed where they stood as the Hokage left the room.

* * *

Hayate was smiling as he led Hinata, Shino, Naruto, and Haku through the streets of Konoha after having treated them to a marvelous dinner. He was proud of them, they did far better than most would have believed.

It was just as they were reaching the Hyuuga compound, always their first stop, when an explosion rang out from near the gates of the village. "Get to the tower! Anyone under Chuunin will be given orders from the Hokage!" Hayate yelled, turning and launching swiftly for the gates.

The four friends looked at each other, and then headed towards the guest apartments instead. The sand siblings were on their side after all – but if this was the invasion they were warned about, the siblings would need their help. They probably wouldn't know what to do.

* * *

Kabuto grinned viciously as he continued to order the invasion. Sasuke had demanded to stay behind, and fearing what their master would do should even a hair on his head be harmed, no one demanded otherwise. Besides, the boy was still pissed off about the two under his guard having escaped.

Of course, they couldn't allow Orochimaru's precious prize to be left in Otokagakure alone, so he had the remains of the Sound Five, now known as the Sound Four, with him.

As the gates fell before him, Kabuto started ordering different Oto-nin to the different areas, as Orochimaru had planned before he seemingly went missing. Kabuto had faith that he would catch up with them eventually, but if not… Well, Kabuto had no arguments about ruling his own hidden village. Though he worried about what he would do about the Uchiha brat.

* * *

Running together, the sand trio, Haku and team 8 soon got back to near the center of the village. Realizing the Hokage had already given out orders and left to join the fight, they figured the best they could do was leap in as well.

Swiftly looking around, they tried to see where they would most be needed.

"Hello Naruto." A voice behind them purred, "You'll be fighting myself today."

Haku grinned, stepping quickly between the silver-haired traitor and Naruto. "Actually, you'll be facing me."

Naruto warily backed off. "Be careful Haku!"

As they backed off to give Haku some space, they tried to figure out where they should go. "I say we should try to track down the Hokage or one of our sensei. See what they want us to do." Hinata softly added as they leapt away.

* * *

"You really think you can face me?" Kabuto smirked, pushing his glasses up.

"I know I can." Haku smiled serenely, as his mirrors leapt to circle them. A new trick he also learned over that month before the finals allowed him to coat the ground in ice mirrors as well as make a 'ceiling' of ice mirrors.

Kabuto growled, and leapt for the smiling ninja, only to curse fluently when his hand went right through the water clone. Feeling pain lance up his back, Kabuto whirled around to face his attacker and gasped.

Haku was hanging half-out of one of his mirrors, old hunter-nin mask in place to guard his face. However, courtesy of Naruto, it had a green leaf painted on the forehead where it used to have the Mist insignia.

"Huh. I missed." Haku softly giggled, making Kabuto snarl.

Kabuto cursed and leapt for the mirror. By the time he got there, Haku was long gone and hurling more senbon from behind him.

Haku watched in amusement as Kabuto continued to attack his water clones and ice mirrors. _'I hope I can end this quickly and get back to Naruto. Who knows what he's gotten into by now…'_

* * *

Naruto yelped, as on his next attempt to jump to another building, he got yanked back down. Twisting around to look, he only saw a single ninja around Haku's age. "I got him guys, catch up with the others!"

"Fine. If you need help, you know how to get my attention." Garra smirked, continuing on, the others reluctantly following him.

Naruto grinned lightly as he followed his opponent to the ground. "Name's Naruto. Who're you?"

"Kimimaru." The white-haired youth murmured. Tilting his head slowly to the side, he watched Naruto through half-lidded eyes. "The pink-haired girl. Was she a friend of yours?"

Naruto blinked, and asked. "Why?"

"I helped her and the other one escape. Prove to me the strength of this village." Kimimaru quietly demanded, slipping into a ready stance.

"Hey, hey, whoa! Why do we have to fight then?" Naruto yelped, dodging a flurry of shuriken. Most of them seemed to be aimed to miss him though, and he eyed his opponent with confusion.

"Simple. I trusted someone once, and they betrayed me. Prove to me that this village is strong with how you fight, and I may just stay here – it would give me a grand opportunity to face the betrayer if I were here." Kimimaru murmured, so quietly Naruto barely heard him.

From the way he was fighting, Naruto was half-convinced the other male was delirious. Didn't mean he wasn't dangerous though.

"Fine. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. But thanks for saving Sakura." Naruto grinned, quickly creating five shadow clones.

Kimimaru smirked slightly, and leapt for the first Naruto. Quickly yanking out his forearm bone from the left side, he wielded it like a sword in his right. Twirling qhickly, he managed to disperse the clones, and grunted as the bone sword slammed into Naruto's side.

"Bones?" Naruto laughed, unsheathing his sword. "Here Akuma!" He laughed, quickly summoning his canine partner. He knew it was the first time they've fought together, but he had to train him in real battle sometime.

Kimimaru snorted gently, and slashed the bone at Naruto who parried with his sword. "Gotta do better'n that!" Naruto laughed.

Akuma leapt away from the main battle and circles his partner and his partner's opponent, watching the bone-wielder's moves carefully. When the white-haired male reached back, and started to quickly pull out his own spine, Akuma leapt into the fray, quickly biting the end of the spine-whip as it came out, and throwing all his weight downwards onto Kimimaru's shoulders.

Naruto grinned tiredly as his buddy. Due to the Chuunin exam, he was still rather tired today, and fighting Kimimaru for fifteen minutes already wasn't helping his stamina any.

Deciding he had no choice, Naruto tapped into the red chakra willingly. He took as little as he thought he could get away with, and then forcibly closed the connection. Leaping in, he set to pinning Kimimaru to the ground with Akuma's help.

Once Kimimaru hit the ground, weird black markings began to cover up the left side of his face, and were crawling down his arm as well. "The hell?" Naruto yelped, looking up at Akuma, only to yelp again. His previously black puppy now had streaks of red through his fur, and every hair was spiked on end. "Who fed you a soldier pill?" Naruto gasped, feeling the body beneath him go limp.

Looking down, he noticed his opponent was out cold, and watched as the markings started to retreat. Letting the red chakra go back to where it came from, he watched in amazement as Akuma turned back to normal. "So the fox's chakra affects you too, huh?" Naruto chuckled. "Guess I'll have to ask Jiraiya about that too."

Looking at his unconscious opponent, Naruto shrugged, and swung him onto his back after sending Akuma back into his tattoo. "Geez man, you're even lighter than Haku!" Naruto yelped, securing his hold on Kimimaru.

* * *

Naruto grinned as he landed with the rest of the team at the Hokage tower. "You find anyone yet?" Naruto asked.

"Nope. Not yet Naruto-kun." Hinata sighed.

"Who's that with you, your opponent?" Shino softly questioned.

"Yup." Naruto chuckled.

Temari just shook her head and gave an incredulous look over to Haku. "Didn't that guy try and kill him?"

Haku just laughed weakly. "Yes. It seems no one ever told him we ninja tend to kill our enemies."

Temari rolled her eyes and grinned. "Y'know, that's kind of endearing. Stupid, but cute."

Hinata burst into giggles as Naruto turned bright red. Shino shook his head and asked, "Where to now?"

"I think we should go and find sensei. Him, or Iruka, or anyone who trained us even. Or the Hokage if we find him first. My guess is all of them are that way." Naruto grinned pointing straight in the direction of the gate.

"What makes you think that?" Haku asked curiously.

"Because. The sounds of battle and the scent of blood is that way." Gaara coolly murmured, stepping up to walk beside Naruto.

"Hey Haku? How'd your battle go?" Naruto grinned, turning to look at him. "And would you check Kimimaru out when we get a breather? He just kinda collapsed during our fight. And he didn't really seem to be all there."

Haku blinked in surprise, but answered, "Sure Naruto, I can do that. Though you know the Hokage will wish to see him immediately after the invasion." After getting Naruto's nod he continued. "My match wasn't bad. Rather exhausting, as I used my new Demonic Ice Mirrors Dome technique, but not very hard."

"Nice!" Temari laughed, "Man, I'm itching to get to the fight. Just don't expect me to fight any of the Sand ninjas – and if you do, try to only knock them out please. I have a really bad feeling that we're gonna need them soon." She sighed.

* * *

Iruka ducked another attempt to behead him with a small yelp, and swiftly turned around to aim a kick right over the man's heart. Hearing his wheezing breaths, Iruka swiftly delivered a kick beneath the man's jaw that knocked his head clear off his body.

Quickly leaping over the falling form, Iruka turned around to fight back to back with Anko for a moment.

"You alright Iruka?" She yelled over, quickly unleashing a rain of kunai that killed off all six advancing towards her.

"Not bad." He gasped, kicking out to counter a kick to his groin.

Anko just laughed wildly as she sliced a woman's throat with one of her kunai. Quickly bringing it to her mouth, she happily licked it off while giving the darkest look to the wary Oto-nin as possible.

"Stop terrorizing the enemy Anko!" Kotetsu laughed, swinging in behind the group and tossing a kunai into the back of all of their necks while Anko had them distracted. "I'm rather enjoying fighting again! I think I should quit being a proctor – what do you think?"

"I dunno Kotetsu." Kurenai laughed from over to the left. "I think Anko would kind of miss having to weed out everyone you let past you."

"Oy!" Kotetsu yelped in indignation, quickly tossing a fireball at an advancing ninja.

Ibiki's deep rumbling laughter was heard coming from the right, as were numerous terrified screams. "What're you up to over there Ibiki?" Izumo laughingly yelled.

Hearing a sickening crunch from where Anko was fighting he laughed out, "Not too much different from Anko I think."

Hayate laughed lightly, darting between the different groups fighting to use his sword to finish any off he could take down easily. Darting past where Ibiki was fighting he couldn't help but ask, "So, you leaving any to play with later? Or are you interrogating them as you kill them?"

Yugao snorted lightly, seeming nothing more than a black shadow as she leapt from one Oto-nin to another, leaving a trail of corpses in her wake. "Does it matter?"

"How do you think the kids are doing?" Asuma asked, twisting around to embed both trench knives deep into an Oto-nin's midsection.

Iruka whimpered at the thought of the rookies who left his care not long ago fighting in this. "They're fine." Anko grinned fiercely. "Wherever they are, they're fine."

"'Lo Anko!" Naruto yelled out, ignoring Iruka's yelp.

"What are you lot doing out here?!" Izumo yelped.

"Kinda had no choice Izumo." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "We couldn't find the Hokage, then some Oto-nin found us anyway."

Quickly pulling damage control, Haku added, "We thought we'd be safest with you."

None of the older ninja had much to say to that. "Just be careful then you lot. Stick together, and try to stay near at least one of us!" Hayate yelled over, pulling a graceful leap to get behead three ninja on the way down.

* * *

"Whoo! Just like the good 'ole days, yea Shibi!?" Tsume howled, leaping overhead with Kuromaru to help in the fight.

Shibi grinned behind his jacket collar at his old teammate's antics. "True. We don't get sent on joint missions nearly as much as we should be."

Hana laughed as she and her dogs leapt in. "Yo! I'm here!"

"Hana, go fight with the rest of the Aburame clan over there!" Tsume yelled. "Inuzuka, hold your positions and drive the bastards out!"

Hearing a chorus of howls in agreement, she felt a fierce grin curl over her face.

"Enjoying yourself old friend?" Shibi chucked, unleashing a cloud of his kikaichu.

"Hell yes! Paperwork and clan head duties suit no Inuzuka, especially me!" Tsume laughed, gleefully slashing another ninja's head off.

* * *

As the Konoha ninja continued to advance, and no new orders were forthcoming from Orochimaru, Kimimaru, Kabuto, or even the sound four or Sasuke back in Otokagakure, the highest ranked member of the Sound forces looked around in fear and screamed "Retreat! Retreat NOW!"

Konoha ninja watched as a force not even a fourth of what it had been frantically left their borders. Loud cheers began to go up, and many ninja in the garb of ANBU willingly gave chase to their enemies – either to kill them, or to at least make certain that they left.

Likewise, the Sand forces still within the village had already either fled or been defeated.

"Not bad you lot!" Anko laughed, fluffing Naruto's blood-stained hair.

"Thank you Anko." Haku smiled. "How's everybody doing?" Getting a chorus of 'fines' from everyone he smiled, "And the stray?"

"He's fine." Kankuro chuckled, having protected the unconscious ninja the whole fight.

"Stray?" Ibiki warily asked.

"Yes. Naruto struck again." Haku teased. "He brought home an Oto-nin. Can we keep him?"

Everybody laughed as Ibiki snorted. "After me and the Hokage get through with him maybe."

"Be careful then – he's very ill." Haku sighed. "Without proper care, he won't last long."

"Well, bring him, and come with me." Ibiki sighed, "Let's go find the Hokage."

As everybody started to head off to where they needed to be, or in the case of most of them to bed, Hayate and Yugao quickly caught up to the group of them. "I'm proud of you – I really am. However, most of you should get to the hospital, or at least head home now. Some of those wounds look pretty nasty." Hayate smiled.

"I heal fast, I'll be fine." Naruto yawned, "But if Haku's not too tired, he can patch us up. I'm sure there are other people who need the hospital more than we do."

"True." Yugao chuckled, watching Hayate worriedly. He had staggered a few too many times during that battle for her liking.

Hayate just flashed her a smile as he turned to point out the Hokage to the rest of the group. "There he is."

Ibiki nodded in thanks and led the others over to the Hokage.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Yugao asked worriedly.

"Yes." Hayate smiled weakly, "Just tired."

"Well, for now, bring him to the hospital." Sarutobi sighed, eyeing the unconscious Kimimaru. "Ibiki and I will question him in the morning. You lot get to bed."

"Sure thing," Naruto yawned, too tired to bother with arguing.

"HAYATE!" They heard Yugao shriek behind them.

Whipping around, they saw him hit the ground, gasping in great gulps of air with blood trickling out the side of his mouth.

"NO!" Naruto yelled, leaping to the fallen swordsman's other side.

"Medic!" Sarutobi roared, as Haku dropped down beside Naruto and started to do what he could.

"We need to get him to a hospital, with clean air, or even a respirator, NOW!" Haku yelled, as the medic-nin landed beside him. Between the medic and Yugao, they got him to the hospital in record time.

Haku went in with the medics, while Yugao collapsed into a chair with a blank look on her face in the waiting room with the others.

Naruto whimpered at the closed door separating him from the man he had come to view as a father. _'Please Haku, save him. I know you can. Please. Please. Please let him be alright.'_

As he broke down into sobs right there on the floor, he seemed almost oblivious to the two pairs of arms that wrapped around him. "He's strong Naruto-kun." Hinata sniffed. "He'll be ok."

* * *

AN: Sorry for the cliffie, but from this chapter on it'll be easier writing for at least a couple more. And I had to stop it here. Hides under desk.

And before I'm lynched on the Sakura thing, both Sasuke and her are 12, which yes, is ick. But needed for later (should later happen).

Haku, Kimimaru and Temari are 15, Kankuro's 14, and Gaara's 13, while the rest of the rookies are 12-13 depending on their birthdays.


	28. Racing the Clock

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 28: Racing the Clock

"We should stop here for the night." Jiraiya proclaimed.

"What? But…" Naruto stammered.

"If we keep going Naruto, we won't have the energy needed to search for Tsunade tomorrow." Haku sighed.

Kimimaro just stayed quiet from where he walked near Jiraiya. Haku knew the long travel had to be hard on the sick ninja. Every one of them was exhausted to the bone, but Naruto still wanted to keep going.

Naruto dropped where he stood and looked painfully out into the darkness while the others set up camp. They knew better than to ask him to help in the state he was in.

"_He's stable for the moment." The third sighed when asked by the frantic Naruto. "But he isn't doing so well. Now, Haku has an idea… but we need an old student of mine to pull it off effectively. Even then, it's not guaranteed to work."_

_Naruto swallowed thickly and stayed huddled in Haku's arms. Yuugao had been let in to see Hayate already, but the others had been kept out._

"_Who's needed? And who'll retrieve them? I assume they're not in the village from the way you worded that." Shino said warily._

"_Her name's Tsunade, and she's the greatest healer in the ninja world. I'll ensure everyone else needed will be here, but I need you Naruto, to be the one to retrieve her. She's stubborn, and likely won't wish to come back to the village, thus, you'll need to convince her." Sarutobi sighed. "Haku, you will go with him, and take Kimimaru with you. Jiraiya will be the one in charge of the mission, he'll be waiting at the gates for you three at dawn."_

He couldn't really remember much of the time since the talk with Sarutobi, and he knew the demands to sleep and rest were good ones. They had traveled a distance that should have taken 4 days at least in just over a day and a half. None of them had ever likely moved so fast, or pushed themselves so hard.

He weakly looked over to Haku and saw him giving a quick once-over to their newest team-mate Kimimaro. No one was yet sure what side he was on, but he'd followed them willingly so far. The Third had asked that they keep an eye on him. O far, Naruto thought they could trust him.

"I'll go get us some dinner, alright?" Jiraiya called over. His attitude had quieted down when he had realized Naruto was too far gone into himself to cuss him out for any and all perverted comments. It just took too much energy to act like he usually did right now. And the despair coming off the blond was enough to make him hurry his ass along too.

"Thank you Jiraiya-san." Haku sighed, motioning Kimimaro to follow him as he walked over to Naruto.

Naruto barely even twitched when they sat down near him. "Naruto?" Haku quietly asked.

He couldn't help but let out a quiet whimper at the sound of his friend's voice. "He'll be ok. He has to be. We gotta find her quick." Naruto choked out.

"And we will Naruto. I promise." Haku smiled slightly, wrapping his arms around the trembling blond.

"Thank you… brother." Naruto whispered, passing out into a deep sleep in his arms. He missed the slight flinch that went through Haku.

Kimimaro noticed, and looked at Haku startled as he gently shifted Naruto in his arms. "Goodnight my friend." Haku softly whispered. _'Being your brother was more than I could have hoped for… though I wish I were more…'_

* * *

Once Naruto was safely tucked in bed in his own tent, Haku turned his gaze to Kimimaro. "Do we need to worry about you, Kimimaro?" Haku questioned.

Kimimaro hesitated uncertainly. "I… I do not wish to work for Oto any longer. Things have begun to become far too odd for my liking there." He admitted, "Though I believe I may prefer to aid you and Naruto."

Haku stared at him for a moment. "Odd how?"

"Before he left for Konoha, Orochimaru was acting even crueler than usual. And ever since Sasuke joined our ranks, he seems to be put in charge of more and more of Oto." Kimimaro sighed. "I joined Orochimaru when he had found me as a child, the last living member of the Kaguya clan, as the others had all killed each other. He took me in, trained me… for the most part, he was almost like a father, if a bit cold. But lately… he began treating me as if I were less than the lowliest genin. He had once told me that my illness would make me never advance as far as I could, but he had never treated me like I was useless before…"

Haku felt his heart go out to him slightly. The story reminded him of what he had once had with Zabuza, despite how long ago those memories felt now. It would have devastated him if Zabuza had ever treated him as if he were useless. "Kimimaro… One thing I've truly learned about Naruto is that he cares, possibly too much, for those he considers friends. He would never turn on us."

Kimimaro snorted. "And what would you know-"

"I know plenty." Haku interrupted. "You have heard of Zabuza, Demon of the Mist, yes?"

Kimimaro nodded confused.

"I was once to him what you seemed to be to Orochimaru. I would have willingly have given my life for him…"

* * *

When Jiraiya came back with the captured rabbits, he curiously looked over the three brats. Haku immediately leapt up to help him, Kimimaro looked deep in thought, and Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Naruto?" He quickly asked.

"In his tent." Haku swiftly answered. "He passed out not long after you left."

Jiraiya grunted as he set about preparing their dinner. "Guess he can have his share in the morning then."

Kimimaro ate as if in a daze, going over what he had heard from Haku about his own past, and some of his more current life. He felt his gaze drifting more than once to his fellow tool, and then to the tent that housed the blond that seemed too amazing to be true.

'_He can't really care that much, can he?'_ Kimimaro uncertainly questioned. He carefully went over what he had heard again, and compared it to what little he had seen of the blonde. _'I wish such were true… I don't really know, nor care to know, how to live life without someone to serve. We Kaguya were pretty much born to be weapons. My clan destroyed itself when we were expected to live our own lives… I really hope you are as Haku says you are Naruto… I believe I may like to serve you as Haku does if that is so…'_

* * *

Hayate's eyes weakly opened, looking around the room. Hinata and Shino were both sound asleep in chairs near the door, Hinata's head having fallen onto Shino's shoulder at some point, and Yuugao was blinking her eyes open from the chair right beside his bed.

"How're you feeling?" She asked, her voice trembling.

"Not bad." He answered. "Just really tired. What happened?"

"You dropped Hayate. You were coughing up blood. We thought… We thought we were going to lose you." She choked out, tears glittering in her eyes.

Hayate smiled weakly, unable to lift his arms to hold her. "You haven't lost me yet." He softly pointed out. _'Though now that I'm truly in stage three of the illness, it probably won't be long now.'_

"Where are Naruto and Haku?" He asked, remembering he hadn't seen them.

"They were led out by Jiraiya. Hayate, they've gone to get Tsunade. We aren't going to lose you." Yuugao sniffed.

"What?!" He rasped out, breaking into coughing. As soon as he could breathe again, he weakly snarled, "I won't have anyone killed on my account Yuugao! I won't let them try!"

Yuugao gently brushed the hair away from his sweaty forehead and softly murmured, "Haku thinks he found a way to save you without it killing anyone, but I don't know any more than that. That's how he got his Medic Mastery status Hayate. I think they really will manage it."

He shook his head weakly. "Much as I believe in Haku, I won't let them try. Too many lives are at stake. Mine isn't worth all of theirs."

Yuugao bit her lip as her eyes watered again. "Hayate…"

"Duly noted." An older voice said softly from the doorway, dropping a jutsu over the two sleeping genin to keep them asleep. "But I believe they may just manage it. As long as you don't mind being the guinea pig. With the setup I was shown, you life is more at risk than theirs."

"Hokage-sama." Hayate murmured.

"So, if we have to knock you out and tie you down, we will." Sarutobi smiled, causing Yuugao to grin slightly as well.

Hayate couldn't help a small smile of his own. "If you're certain…?"

"I am." The Third promised. The fight seemed to have drained out of Hayate for that announcement.

"Hokage-sama… please. Tell me who Naruto's family is?" Hayate questioned. "You've mentioned more than once, and both Yuugao and I wish to know so we can help Naruto."

"Ah… Though I appreciate the offer, not yet. I'll tell all of you after you're feeling better Hayate." Sarutobi grinned turning to leave the room. He took off the jutsu from the still sleeping duo and slipped out the door.

"When I'm better?" Hayate snorted incredulously.

"I really think this may work Hayate." Yuugao smiled, looking over at him hopefully.

Almost as if to spite her, he coughed up more blood. _'As long as they get back in time…'_ She silently added.

* * *

"This was the last known place she was at." Jiraiya proclaimed, looking around the town. "Now all we gotta do is find her."

"Do we have any description of what she looks like?" Haku questioned.

Jiraiya pulled out a picture of him and two others from when they were younger. One was a blond woman, and the other was pale and snake-like. "Tsunade was always somewhat vain. She probably uses Genjutsu to still look like this." He chuckled, pointing to the blond woman in the middle.

"So looks like that, probably smells like Genjutsu." Haku grinned, summoning his puppies Kouhei and Kouken. Both had a slight blue tint to their fur and their eyes were an ice blue. Haku blinked slightly at the change, but realized it was likely because of the Isonade within him. They seemed alright, so he figured he shouldn't worry too much.

Naruto followed his example and summoned Akuma. Haku noticed the very tips of his fur seemed to have gained a reddish tint, making the golden puppy even more brilliant looking.

All three puppies crowded around the picture and listened to Haku's swift explanation. "Got it?" Naruto questioned. "Then go find her!"

As soon as the dogs were off, Haku brought Kimimaro with him to search one half of the village, while Naruto and Jiraiya went in the other direction.

They searched for hours, scouring every part of the village and questioning everyone they met. Not a single person seemed to have any idea of whom they sought. There wasn't a single trace that Tsunade had even been within the town.

When they met up around nightfall back where they started, they shared news of their fruitless search.

"Damn it!" Jiraiya cursed as he watched Naruto's expression drop. "Did any one hear anything? Find anything?"He questioned. Receiving negatives all around, he led them to a hotel and told them to get some sleep once he bought them a room.

"What about you Jiraiya?" Haku asked, an arm still wrapped around the devastated blonde.

"I'll be back in a bit. There's still a couple places in town you are too young to check. There's some off-chance someone may have at least seen her come through." Jiraiya sighed, turning and heading back out.

Naruto was guided to the bed and pulled down by Haku. Naruto didn't seem to care about his own well-being for the moment, so it was up to him to both look over the blond, and keep an eye on Kimimaro. Motioning the other boy to get in bed as well, He watched as soon Kimimaro fell asleep. Naruto didn't really fall asleep so much as passed out again.

Haku settled in to a light sleep. He'd be the first one to know if anything should happen.

* * *

Jiraiya headed back out into the darkened town. Most of the lights were shut off, and many of the establishments were closed, but he knew exactly where the nightlife was in every town within the Elemental Countries.

It didn't take him long to find the first after-hour establishment. He walked in and swallowed back his usual attitude in such a place and walked up to the owner. After offering a good amount of money and asking about Tsunade, the most he was able to learn was that yes, she had been in the town… two days ago.

Dejected, but not having given up yet, he headed to the next place.

After hours of searching, he headed back to the hotel with a tired grin. He managed to find out that, so long as she hadn't moved on already, she was only in the next town over, less than a day away.

Arriving back at the hotel, he quickly debated with himself. Much as he'd love nothing more than to sleep right now, he knew Naruto would never forgive him should they be too late, o he headed up and woke the brats.

"C'mon, I think I've found her. She's supposed to be in the next town over. If we leave now, we'll get there by noon at the latest." Jiraiya grinned.

He couldn't help but let his grin go wider as Naruto lost the lifeless look, and began to look more energized almost instantly. "Then let's go!" The blond gasped, leaping to his feet.

Within moments, and long before the sun came up, they were running with every bit of speed they possessed to the next town.

Naruto's heart was hammering wildly, frantic that they find her and bring her back. They had to.

* * *

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya laughed when they spotted twin blond pigtails at an early-opened sake bar. The small brunette woman beside her only proved her identity.

The blond woman choked on her drink, and coughed it onto the bar as she turned around in shock. "Jiraiya?" The small brunette beside her quietly apologized to the bartender, before turning to watch the conversation.

Jiraiya laughed as he watched her gaze slip from him to the three behind him. "We need to talk to you old friend."

"What about…?" She asked warily. "If Sarutobi-sensei's still hung up on having me take over for him this time, find yourself someone else. I won't do it."

"Tsunade-sama…" the brunette started.

"It's not about that." Jiraiya started. "It's abou-"

"Please Tsunade. My sensei… He needs your help." Naruto said, trying not to let his voice waver.

"And?" She questioned, unconcerned.

"Tsunade!" The woman gasped.

Haku stepped up and added, "His name's Gekkou Hayate." He watched with some satisfaction as she choked on that gulp of her drink as well. "I think I've developed a jutsu that will cure him, but you're the only medic strong enough to make it happen."

She wiped her mouth and stared at the kid in shock. "You realize only Master Medics-"

He silently pulled up his sleeve revealing the red cross of his mastery.

Her eyebrows went way up. _'This kid may be even better than me with time… He certainly earned his mastery before I did.'_

"Very well." She started, watching the blond brat light up. "But you have to do something for me in return brat."

All four of them paused uncertainly.

"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked. He'd do anything if it would keep Hayate alive…

"Before I leave Konoha, you need to learn the Rasengan. Otherwise, if you ever need me in that village again, I won't ever return. Jiraiya can teach you." She smirked. _'There. I'll get to really see what the kid is made of, and I get to teach him a little bit of his family, without going against sensei's demand.'_

Jiraiya stared at her stunned for a moment, before looking at the blond hopeful expression. "Alright. I'll teach the brat. But he's needed in that jutsu, so it's unfair to demand he learn it while he'll likely be unconscious."

Tsunade paused startled, before standing up and motioning for Jiraiya to pay her bill. He grumbled, but did so as she turned to Haku. "Tell me about this jutsu of yours…"

* * *

During the speedy return to Konoha, Tsunade went over the notebook Haku had cautiously handed over. She was more than impressed. She had carefully memorized the version that he had shown her as the one they were going to try, and then practically devoured the diagrams and notes he had written while trying to get to said final jutsu.

The brunette, finally introduced as Shizune on the way out, had been added to the last blank spot in Haku's setup by Tsunade. She was quietly looking over the notebook alongside Tsunade.

Jiraiya spent most of the trip doing something he hadn't done much of since he became a ninja – he prayed. That the jutsu would work, that they wouldn't be too late, and that no one would die performing said jutsu.

After all, he more than anyone knew there was a major difference for a ninja between dying against a foe in battle, and perishing from something like an illness, something that couldn't really be fought.

Haku, Kimimaro and Naruto spent the trip back to Konoha deep in discussion over something. Neither of the adults bothered to listen in on, to busy preparing for what was to come.

"So you see Naruto, why such things are necessary?" Haku asked.

Naruto sighed, looking upwards as he leapt through the trees. "I get it Haku. But killing someone… It will never be my first choice…"

Watching as Haku gave a fond, if exasperated, grin, Naruto couldn't help but add, "Except for Sasuke-teme. I could make an exception for him."

Haku laughed softly as even Kimimaro let a soft chuckle escape.

* * *

"Alright!" Tsunade yelled out within moments of entering the gate. "I need Shizune, Kimimaro, Naruto, Haku, and someone named Gaara, over here, NOW!" She never once stopped her fast paced walk towards the hospital, just rolled up her sleeves, tied both ponytails into one behind her, and got ready.

Sarutobi breathed a small sigh of relief that he had had the foresight to set everything up before they got back, and to move Hayate into the proper room. Yuugao, Shino and Hinata had been forced out of the room a mere hour ago.

The people Tsunade immediately followed after her, though Gaara caught Naruto's eye first to make sure he should. The look in his friend's eyes made him join the group very quickly.

Arriving at the hospital, a simple look from Tsunade and a few barked orders had the entire hospital staff practically flying out of her way, and promising to not interfere.

She was practically a force of nature as she slammed through the halls, barking orders and commands as she went. The ones trailing behind her just stayed quiet, kept up, and stayed out of her way.

"Tsunade, exactly where are you going and why?" An older man, a medic-nin by his uniform sneered. Haku disliked the man immensely. He always got in people's way for the sheer sake of doing so. He had personally made Haku nearly lose at least ten patients.

"Tsunade simply placed her pinky finger to his chest and slammed him into the wall behind her, never once breaking her forwards momentum as she snarled, "Outta my way shithead. I gotta patient to save."

Haku couldn't help but grin. Turning his head to look back at the wheezing doctor, he couldn't help a soft laugh.

Finally arriving at the proper room, Hayate looked so pale on the white sheets. Naruto paused for a moment, hoping that he would be alright, before hearing his name called as Tsunade pointed to a place on the floor. "Stand there Naruto. Gaara, on his left. Haku, his right."

Once everyone else was where they were supposed to be, she quickly over viewed the procedure.

"Kimimaru, you're a minor battery and stabilizer. Basically, you do whatever you have too to keep Shizune conscious. Shizune, you know your role." Waiting for the woman's swift nod, she continued. "Alright. Kimi, put your hands on her shoulders, and don't let go until it's over."

Turning to the other group on Hayate's other side, the stepped into her placement and turned to face her patient. "Naruto, hands on my shoulders. Garra, stand slightly at an angle, one hand on my shoulder atop Naruto's, and the other hand on his shoulder." Looking over that way, she nodded in satisfaction, then turned to see Haku had already copied Gaara's positioning on his side.

"Good. Now Naruto, as the strongest battery, you have to make absolutely certain that I never fall too low on chakra. You only worry about upping my reserves. Got it?" She asked.

"Yup." The blond said, licking his lips nervously.

"Gaara, Haku, your roles are slightly more complicated. Like Naruto, you have to make sure my reserves never drop too far, Shizune will be keeping them at a fairly steady level. You both also have to keep watch on Naruto's reserves. He, also, can't ever fall too far. If he passes out, the whole Jutsu will collapse. I don't think I need to tell you how bad that would be." Tsunade finished.

"Alright, everybody ready?" She commanded.

Hearing a variety of agreements, she took a deep breath, and started the ijutsu. She watched as first Shizune started to glow blue, followed by Kimimaro behind her. She could sense when her own chakra became visible, and felt the three behind her light up.

Once the initial step occurred, she waited as Shizune carefully formed the connections, taking some of the batteries power instead of using her own already. As the stabilizer, she was able to call upon all the chakra within the ijutsu.

Once the connections were set, and were humming with power, both she and Shizune set to adding a couple of web-like connections over Hayate's body, carefully attaching them to his head, mouth, heart, lungs, and lower abdomen.

Taking a deep breath now that the initial setup was over, Tsunade turned to Shizune, who nodded back. Now the hard part began.

Turning her gaze back to her patient as she felt his vitals slow down thanks to the webbing part of the ijutsu, she carefully began to pump chakra into his chest.

After a few moments of this, Hayate began to cough up a mixture of blood, and small black specks. They were caught in the webbing over his mouth and easily pulled away from him, allowing him to breath and cough up more of the gunk as needed.

Focusing on the medical jutsu as she was, Tsunade was unaware of the strain the batteries and Kimimaro were already feeling. But with a quick look exchanged between them, they all knew they wouldn't give up.

Tsunade carefully finished emptying his lungs, and began to tear apart and repair overly damaged places. There wasn't time to be as gentle as she's prefer, so he'd definately be hurting in the morning, but clearing the disease and keeping hi alive were far more important. As she was checking over the lungs a second time, she couldn't help a shiver of cold from traveling through her. Giving a quick look around, she noticed an ice-blue, nearly white chakra included within the jutsu now, but as it wasn't doing any damage, she turned back to her work.

Finishing with repairing his lungs, she turned to clearing his airways, not allowing her confusion at feeling a warm chakra, golden in color, to distract her, as it was working fine as well.

Looking up at a slightly wide-eyed Shizune to be sure she got everything in the lungs and airways, she received a nod, and turned then to his heart.

Carefully pushing chakra into his heart, she started to carefully force the little black flakes out of his heart, and into the smaller netting Shizune had set up to catch this part of the disease.

Once that net was pulled out and added to the larger one off to the side, she looked up at Shizune again for confirmation. Seeing her assistant's tired nod, she turned to the last stage.

Pouring more chakra into his body, she aimed it over all previously infected areas, strengthening them and helping them to be immune to the disease should it attempt to return. She turned more chakra onto his immune system, and carefully rewired parts of it to make certain that the disease would be destroyed should any lingering traces be found.

She nearly yelped when she felt fiery red chakra add into what she was molding. That chakra she remembered, and suddenly realized why the three behind her were chosen to be the batteries. _'They're all Jinchuriki…'_

Shaking her head slightly to clear it, she now carefully used more chakra to remove the traces that they were ever there, carefully pulling the webbing off of every connection save his heart.

Once she got Shizune's exhausted nod of all clear, she carefully used what remained of the chakra to wrap it around his heart and get it to beat again. She felt one of the hands attached to her clench and go weak before regaining its grip, and knew she had to finish this soon.

Carefully pumping his heart, as she had to time this very carefully, she watched for it to beat again. As soon as it beat once on his own power, she carefully detached that last web before the next beat, otherwise, it would have just shut off again.

Shivering slightly in exhaustion, she finished pulling down the jutsu and destroying the disease off in a far corner of the room without leaving her spot by the bed.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes to give a tired grin to Shizune as the girl carefully disconnected everyone. Tsunade heard the whimpers and thumps from the three behind her as they passed out as soon as the connections were cut, and then watched Kimimaro do the same behind Shizune, her assistant falling down not long after.

Tsunade fell to her knees with a tired grin as the door was opened to allow the Third to poke his head in uncertainly.

She had enough time to see him break into a beaming smile, before the world went black.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's been so long, but I've got a working plan for the chapters again. This story was originally going to be immense, but it's going to end around chapter 34 or so instead, and then have an epilogue. I may eventually write a sequel between the last chapter and the epilogue, but we'll see what'll happen.

And because of the shortening of the story, some things that were going to be very important will be much less so, but if there is a sequel, they'll be important bits for that.

Either way, I'm hoping to get this story finished soon.

And Tsunade's entrance into the hospital was so fun to write.


	29. Family Ties

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 29: Family Matters

AN: Enough reviews came through to get me off my lazy ass and start writing again. So I look at a blank page, my notes and my memories for a few minutes, and realize I need to at least check my last written chapter. I then realize I've ignored this story long enough, that reading it through interested me again. So I re-read it to get everything straight in my mind again, and volia! Please forgive me if there are any inconsistencies between what happened before this chapter, and what happens after.

* * *

The first thing Naruto became aware of after opening his eyes was the soft breathing of others sharing a room that was not his comfortable one back on the Aburame's compound.

He next became aware of the dark, as he opened his eyes and only saw blackness.

"Who's already awake?" A soft voice whispered, startled.

"'S me, Naruto." He coughed out.

Almost instantly, he heard a few soft sounds as a candle was lit, and a glass of water was held to his lips.

"How do you feel?" The voice questioned, as he swallowed down the glass in a few mouthfuls.

"Not bad." Naruto mumbled, "Just really tired. What…"

He paused, as memories slammed into him like a freight train, and sat up fast enough to send his head pounding something fierce. "Oh, my head." He gasped, but looked around frantically.

"Calm down Naruto, Hayate's fine." The voice laughed, now identified as Yugao, as he turned to look, "Thanks to you and your friends, he's fine." She sobbed, dropping into his arms for a hug.

"Hey, calm down." Naruto gasped, worried, "He's fine, isn't he?"

"Yes. I just kept thinking while the procedure was going on, everything that could have gone wrong, and remembering that if I had convinced him to refuse having you as a genin…!"

"Hey, take it easy. He's family now, I had to help. And you wouldn't have convinced him, or me, that easily." Naruto sheepishly smirked. "What about the others?"

Yugao pulled back and wiped her eyes with a small sniff. "All passed out in this room, but all alright. That's why I lit a candle, rather than turn the lights on."

As his eyes had started to adjust, he look around and could faintly see the outlines of various forms around the room. It didn't take much to realize the oddest shaped one in the middle of the room was Hayate, likely hooked up to monitoring equipment. He realized a second later that this was the same room they had done the ijutsu in.

He felt his eyes beginning to droop, and Yugao helped him lie down. "Get back to sleep Naruto. The medics didn't predict any of you to wake up until noon at the earliest."

He drifted to sleep to the soft sounds of her gentle humming that night.

* * *

The next time Naruto became aware, it was to being snuggled into his own bed, and hearing the muted sounds of daytime insects, telling him even before he opened his eyes that it was around noon.

Opening his eyes was more a struggle than he expected, but once that was accomplished, he worked on getting out of bed. Soon enough, he was on his feet, and tiredly headed for the shower, feeling like he had run Gai-sensei's version of a marathon.

Clean and dried, he headed out of his room, feeling a little stronger, and went to check on Haku in his room. _'I really hope Hayate wakes up soon, and Yugao's probably with him. Wonder who brought us home though?'_

Naruto gently eased the door open, to see Haku still sound asleep in bed. He quietly backed out of the room and headed for the stairs.

Deciding to make food, or his best approximation thereof anyway, he carefully descended the stairs, and saw Kimimaro passed out like a rag doll on the couch. He softly growled upon realized that whoever brought Kimi in didn't bother with attempting to make him comfortable, so Naruto made a slight detour to shift him into a slightly more comfortable position, then headed for the kitchen.

Quickly making up a few sandwiches, and storing all the ones he wasn't eating in the fridge, Naruto swallowed his down much slower than normal, then trooped back up the stairs to his room. Maybe he'd feel a little more alive after some more sleep.

* * *

Sakura smiled tearfully as bother her parents let her go from the hug. They had been talking all morning, and things seemed to have finally smoothed out.

"Thanks mom." Sakura sniffed, wiping her eyes as her dad fluffed her hair.

"So you really needed to give up being a ninja permanently?" Her father questioned softly, "I know you wanted to be a ninja…"

She shivered. "No, and not anymore. I never realized just how bad… Anyways, I'm good on that score. I think I'll take up Ino's mom up on the offer she made a few years ago about being her apprentice, if the offer's still open."

Both parties were trying to stick to lighter topics for the most part by now, but her mom finally couldn't help but ask, "About the baby Sakura, what will you…?"

She teared up again and whispered, "I'm keeping it. I just can't kill it for no real reason."

Both her parents shared a look over her head and nodded. "Then we'll support you 100% sweetie." Her dad murmured. This wasn't ever the way they figured this situation would pan out. Not long ago, their baby girl had wanted this burden, and they had needed to impress upon her what they'd do should she ever come home in this condition, now they had to assure her it was alright, as it wasn't her fault.

"Please, lighter topic now?" Sakura softly sniffed.

"How about we tell you what we've heard about the Chuunin exam?" Her father gently asked.

Sakura perked up and nodded. She'd like to hear about what her... friends had been up to. Maybe it wasn't to late to reach out to them in return.

* * *

The world was dark, and quiet. He could hear breathing, and gradually noticed the soft sounds of machines, and could soon feel a soft weight on his hand, but it was such a struggle to stay awake, let alone think, that he soon gave up the fight, and slipped back under.

The darkness behind his eyelids was a little brighter when next he was aware, and this time he had the strength to struggle to get his eyes open, confused as to where he was, and why he felt so tired. Once he managed, and his eyes cracked open a sliver, he only had the strength to see a sea of purple, before he was unconscious again.

The third time he awoke, his eyes flew open almost instantly, as he tried to sit up.

"Hey, whoa Hayate, calm down, everyone's fine, you're cured, you thirsty?" Kotetsu gasped, carefully shoving Hayate back down with a hand to his chest as Izumo brought over water.

Once he had drank his fill, he then asked, "Then where are they?" For even Yugao wasn't in the room at the moment.

"We promised Yugao we'd watch over you, while Yugao went to check on the kids. If they're as exhausted as Tsunade and Shizune, they'll probably need to be woken up to be fed, or IV dripped food. Don't worry, exhaustion's all that's wrong with them." Izumo softly reassured.

"How long…?" Hayate croaked.

"Procedure was two days ago. This is the first Yugao's left your side. Both Shino and Hinata have popped in to check on you from time to time too, but mostly they've been helping with the repairs." Kotetsu answered.

He was still trying to digest the thought. Cured? Haku had actually done it? No more suffering under the disease that had haunted him his entire life?

"How do you feel, by the way?" Izumo asked.

"Not bad, all things considered. Weak, and tired, and my lungs hurt like I had a really bad coughing fit though." Hayate yawned.

"Get some more rest man." Kotetsu softly ordered. "Someone'll still be here when you wake up next."

He closed his eyes, and drifted off to the sounds of two of his best friends softly joking around, and that more than anything assured him it would be alright.

* * *

Naruto stumbled down the stairs just as someone opened the door. Seeing the mess of blond trip, Yugao swiftly shot forwards and caught him, carefully carrying him into the kitchen.

"I assume you're hungry?" She softly quipped, going over to look through the cupboards.

"Yup. Was up earlier. Sandwiches in fridge." Naruto yawned.

Yugao blinked at that, then snickered. Was she really that surprised Naruto was the first one up by a long shot?

Quickly grabbing a couple sandwiches from the fridge, she brought them over, and then went to check in on the other two.

* * *

Almost a week after the attempt to save Hayate saw them all happily gathered into the large room he still inhabited.

Anko and Ibiki were talking in the back corner, while keeping an eye on the proceedings; Hayate was still confined to the bed, but looked alert and happy; Kotetsu and Izumo were playing cards off to the side, while Iruka ad Genma watched, and Haku, Kimimaro, Naruto, Hinata and Shino were crowded around Hayate. Yugao had stepped back a bit to let the kids be reassured he was alright.

Sarutobi chuckled as he walked in garnering all attention. "Would everyone but Yugao and Naruto please head outside for a while? I have something I need to speak with them about."

Everyone else exchanged confused looks as they did as commanded, while Yugao and Hayate gave each other startled, and determined, looks.

Once the room was clear, he motioned them both up onto the bed with Hayate, he knew they'd need him for this discussion.

"Naruto, I promised that once Hayate had recovered, I'd explain to you three about your family. It'll be up to you Naruto, as to who else will know." Sarutobi softly informed, watching both adults loop an arm around the blond.

"This will be hard on all three of you, you and Yugao especially." He finished, looking at Naruto. "Are you certain you wish to know?"

Naruto swallowed thickly and nodded. He needed to know.

"Very well then. I should probably start by explaining about a distant relative, and then going down through the generations, so you will understand the connections. It'll also hopefully give you time to start to work it out, and thus brace yourselves for the painful parts." He sighed, making sure his privacy jutsu over the whole room was at full strength.

He took a deep breath, and got started. "As you know, the first Hokage was the founder of this village, and head of the Senju clan. You also know that the Legendary Tsunade is his granddaughter. However, he didn't have one child, but two. Discovered very recently, was that, three generations down the line, he became the great grandfather to our Yondaime Hokage, Kazama Arashi."

He took a pause here, to see them still listening raptly, though somewhat confused. "So a recently discovered relative of yours is Tsunade, though you have a much closer relative still alive as well. Naruto… your father was Kazama Arashi… The Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto made a noise in his throat like a wounded animal, and was held closer to both adults for it.

"And his mother?" Hayate softly asked.

Sarutobi paused a minute, before softly asking, "Did you ever wonder where his last name came from?"

They looked up at him in confusion. "One of my better ideas actually, to name him for both his parents, since his father's name would have gotten him killed. 'Uzu/ma/ki', Part of KazaMA, and part-"

Yugao breathed, "Uzuki."

Naruto whipped his head around to stare at Yugao in shock, as did Hayate.

"Yes, Uzuki. His mother was Hikaru Uzuki… your sister." Sarutobi whispered watching as she choked up.

"I had heard… that she had secretly gotten married, but had never known… and all these years…"She gasped painfully.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin as she wrapped him tightly in a hug and started to cry and apologize.

"So…" Naruto stammered, "she'd be…"

"Your Aunt, Naruto." Sarutobi softly finished, "And aside from your distant connection to Tsunade, your only living relative."

Hayate just held tightly to the two most precious people in his life as they cried.

* * *

Sometime later found both Yugao and Naruto snuggled in on either side of Hayate, having a bit of a catnap, after having tired themselves out crying earlier. Apologies had been said, talking had lightly been had, and now they just needed rest.

Hayate felt his heart soar, and knew his plan he had been putting off because of his illness could go through anytime now… He'd just wait until he was out of a hospital bed first.

Until then, he would watch over his family.

Hearing the door lightly creak open, he turned his head and lazily motioned Haku in. Kimimaro trailed in behind him, using Haku as a crutch.

Haku stopped short at seeing the tear tracks along both Naruto and Yugao's faces. He hadn't dared wipe them off, he knew it would wake them, and they needed their rest.

"It's fine Haku. The Hokage just told us something we needed to hear." Hayate smiled. "But it's up to Naruto who knows all or most of it. And it's… mostly a good thing."

Haku hesitated, before sighing, "If you're sure…"

Hayate smiled. "Positive."

Both carefully took their leave.

Hayate chucked softly. "How many of our little group have spent much time conscious this week?" He mused.

* * *

Sasuke glowered from his throne, and listened with increasing ire to the reports of his men.

"…And that's all, Orochimaru-sama." The latest in the reports sniveled at his feet.

He'd let them continue to believe whatever they wanted to believe for now. He was still in charge here. No one disobeyed him now. And he was beginning to develop the perfect plan.

* * *

After waking up, Naruto gave hugs and goodbyes to his new family, and headed out of the hospital to track his teammates down. A bit of searching later had them all headed for the Aburame compound, where all their important discussions lately seem to take place.

Once they were all in a vague circle shape, Naruto took a shaky breath, and announced, "My dad was the Yondaime."

As Shino, Haku and Hinata all understood all that entailed, they gasped, and then looked various shades of angry. Kimimaro looked a little lost, both for the inclusion in the group, and why that was a bad thing.

While the others stewed, Kimimaro spared silent thanks for his… questioning… having ended, he was now a citizen of Konoha. He wouldn't officially become a chuunin until next week, but he could live with that. He was also amazed by Naruto's capacity for love. He hasn't known him long, but already had decided he would serve Naruto as Haku does.

Kaguya don't do well on their own.

Seeing the lost expression on their newest friend's face, they quickly caught him up to speed. He took it all surprisingly well all things considered.

"So, I believe congratulations are in order Naruto." Hinata softly smiled.

Naruto smiled shakily. "That's not all. My mom... my mom was Yugao's sister. Yugao's my aunt. Family."

Eyes widened around the group, before smiles started to spread.

"Definitely congratulations then. She's not a relative many would risk angering." Shino smirked.

Conversation drifted lazily around for a few hours. They had all been given a few more days off for recovery, and decided today was for inclusion of Kimi into the group, and just hanging out.

As the sun started to set and the light within the natural fort of the willow tree began to dim, they all got up to part ways.

"See you all tomorrow!" Hinata giggled, as she was the only one not living here by now, and she was only going next door, contentedly living with the Inuzuka now.

The other four grinned and wished her goodnight, as Shino turned off to his house, and the other three headed for Naruto and Haku's. Kimi was camped out in the living room until they decorated up the former guest room.

Once they were all settled in after eating dinner in the living room, Haku turned to Naruto to start a discussion he thought was long overdue.

"Naruto, we kind of covered this already, but you didn't seem to fully grasp, or understand. The life of a Ninja can take two forms. The life of a wielder, or the life of a tool. Tools live their lives by their chosen master's standards. That can be for anything as strict as orders every second of the day, or as light as a simple set of guidelines to follow." Haku stopped here to give Naruto a look, as the blond was starting to look like he wished to argue.

Kimimaro stepped in here. "Naruto, we'll use my clan as an extreme example. When a Kaguya's born, we're usually sworn to service of someone – our parents, siblings, clan head, village leader – whatever works best for that Kaguya. If ever we need to change masters for any reason, it's done swiftly, and instantly.

"You see, a Kaguya can't really handle being on our own. Every bloodlimit had some form of weakness, and the bone pulse's weakness is servitude. If left on our own, our minds, and sometimes skills, deteriorate. Even our bodies can suffer. We need a master, rules, to follow. Otherwise, we tend to weaken and go mad.

"I could go and swear allegiance to your Hokage, and it would likely suffice. But a Kaguya's only truly as strong as their masters allow them to be. My 'illness' is actually a direct representation of the mistreatment I suffered under Orochimaru. Had he have actually have taken over my body as he had wished, he would have been forced to take a master to survive himself."

Haku stepped in again, as Naruto was listening quietly. "Some people are just born or raised to have a similar mindset. I could survive fine on my own, but I'd be miserable about it. I wouldn't really know what to do with myself. Even your dream of becoming Hokage is a goal towards which I can strive towards, by training my ijutsu and combat skills to help you in every way I can."

Naruto quietly looked over the duo before him, watching as the last rays of the setting sun seemed to make Kimimaro's hair sparkle, and Haku look as if he were made from shadow and fire. Some part of himself tried to comment how useful they would be, but he calmly ignored the fox's input.

"You're sure? This is really what you want Haku?" Naruto uncertainly asked.

Haku simply nodded.

"And you Kimimaro? If I got that right, you're only sick 'cause you've got nothing to follow, right?" Naruto hesitantly asked.

"Correct Naruto. I could follow your orders happily. And I believe it could be… fun to help you become Hokage. I've never had a dream of my own before. But… I find myself sharing yours." He softly smiled.

Naruto still wavered, before sighing as the sun slid below the horizon, blanketing the room in shadow. Haku quietly turned on the lamp beside him, and quietly watched over Naruto with hopeful eyes.

"Alright." He sighed. "Dunno how much order-giving I'll be doing though."

"Why not?" Kimimaro smirked. "Practice for when you become Hokage can't hurt. You'll need to give orders then."

All three dissolved into chuckles, trying to imagine Naruto as he is now barking orders at a room full of ninjas.

"I suppose we can work on that Naruto." Haku giggled.

* * *

Annoyingly, he discovered his plan would require a year's work to set up. As the mark on his neck twinged, Sasuke growled softly under his breath. _'Remember, I still need to kill that murdering brother of mine as well.'_ He coldly reminded himself.

Striding out of his rooms, and barely sparing a glance for anyone in his path, Sasuke stormed through the halls and down to Kabuto's lab. If the slippery medic weren't vital to parts of his plan, he'd have slaughtered him right now.

* * *

An unremarkable Sound ninja watched the back of Sasuke disappear down the hall and shivered. _'Is that really Lord Orochimaru? Could he really have transferred bodies so far from base?'_ The ninja brushed his hand through his dark blue hair with another shiver. _'He certainly acts just like Orochimaru-sama did just before the invasion. But there's something not quite right…'_

The ninja quietly turned and quickly made his way back to his room. _'Nothing seems simple anymore. When Orochimaru recruited me, he spoke of building a village of outlaws, and the destruction of Konoha. He was level-headed, cold, and ruthless. Now, he's absolutely fixated on watching Konoha burn, killing Itachi, and lord knows what else, but he certainly doesn't care about any of us anymore.'_

Quickly locking the door behind him, the ninja continued to try to work things out in his mind. _'I've never seen the body transfer happen, so that likely is what went on. His obsession with Itachi could be either his lingering need for the Sharingan creeping though, or the body of Sasuke's remembered vengeance. If I remember the tales right, the highest form of Sharingan can only be achieved though killing someone special, and as Itachi's the last true Uchiha left now, it's probably his death needed.'_ A small shiver creeped up his spine.

"I don't like this." He whispered softly to an empty room. Making up his mind, he quickly gathered his belongings together and sealed them into a scroll.

Peeking out into the hall, he quickly set in motion his escape. Throwing himself upon the non-existant mercy of the Raikage had to be better than this. He just hoped his old friend Yugito would forgive him for what he had done.

* * *

AN: Wow, depressing chappie. I hope everyone enjoyed finally finding out Naruto's family. And for anyone new that's joined us, remember, I started writing this before the timeskip in the manga, so that was the base for my plot. I couldn't change it when new stuff came out. Even though I know stuff now, like akatsuki and Itachi, they won't really be a part of this story.

PS- Hopefully will have next chapter out soon. And hopefully this chap wasn't too bad, still getting back into the swing of writing, and it didn't help that this was such a sad chapter.


	30. A Year in Motion

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 30: A Year in Motion

Hayate smiled, curling his fingers around his sword and tilting his face to the breeze. He was perched on the very rooftop of his apartment, and couldn't help his smile turning slightly feral as he drew his sword, and started the 'Crescent Moon Dance'. After all, he needed to get back in shape.

Perched a few rooftops away sat Yugao, Kotetsu and Izumo, quietly watching their old friends become familiar with his sword once again. They all had no doubt he'd be at least Jonin level soon now he was free of any lingering traces of his illness.

"What say you I bet he could make ANBU in a year if he wanted?" Kotetsu smirked, watching Hayate's dance go faster and faster.

"That's a sucker's bet." Izumo softly laughed, "Besides, you know we'd never let him take it."

Yugao smiled softly. "If he really wanted to join me in ANBU, I really wouldn't stop him, though my own retirement is coming up soon. You can only serve for five years at a time, remember?"

"True." Kotetsu laughed, "Though if you ever took up the mask again, I've no doubt he'd join ya."

All three shared a laugh, and settled back to continue to watch Hayate practice, making sure to keep an eye out so he didn't tire himself out too far yet.

* * *

Tsunade looked at the blonde standing defiantly before her, then turned her gaze to her old teammate.

"Give him two months to get the basics down at least." Jiraiya begged, "Even I took nearly a year to learn it!"

"One month. I give the brat a month. You don't have at least a working Rasangan to show me, even a worthlessly weak one in that time and you owe me brat. Remember, this is your payment for me healing your teacher." She snapped. _'No need to tell the kid that introducing me to his friend Haku settled that debt. I'll tell him we're square at the end of the month,'_ She decided.

Naruto nodded sharply and reached out to shake her hand as Jiraiya wailed about no more free time. "Done."

Tsunade smirked and watched him drag Jiraiya off.

"C'mon Jiraiya! I need to learn this!" Naruto called, trying to bodily drag the Sanin back to their training spot from the month off.

"Alright brat, alright. But not that training ground. This way." He sighed, taking off in the trees.

Naruto swiftly gave chase until they landed in a clearing with a stream.

"Warm up your chakra with water walking while I go get some supplies." Jiraiya grumbled.

Naruto grumbled, but set in to do what he was told. Soon growing bored of just walking on the little stream, he looked into the water and got an idea. Soon, with every step he took, he tried to stay above the water, and yet pick a bit up to cover the soles of his sandals like one would do with the leaf spinning exercise.

When Jiraiya came back to see his studend wandering around atop the stream with water coating his legs in a thin coating to nearly his knees, he laughed, breaking Naruto's concentration and sending him into the water.

"Damn it!" Naruto grumbled, pulling himself ashore.

"Relax kid. Here!" Jiraiya laughed, tossing him a water balloon.

"What do I do with this?" Naruto asked, giving the balloon a bewildered look.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Pour some of your chakra into it, only a small bit at first, and try to rotate it inside the balloon. Basically, think of it as an advanced form of that leaf-spinning exercise. This is part one of the Rasangan. When you can burst the balloon through no more than simply spinning your chakra, and can do it multiple times in a row at that – there's many more balloons over here, as you'll wind up popping lots – then come find me. There's three stages to learning the Rasangan, and skipping ahead will only slow you down."

Naruto watched Jiraiya leave with an incredulous look on his face, and then turned to the balloon. Pouring a small amount of his chakra inside with a hopeful expression, he was wholly unprepared for the nearly deafening POP as he tried to spin his chakra. Looking at the remains, it looked rather kinda pincushioned.

Naruto flicked some balloon pieces out of his hair, and turned a dirty look to the balloons under the tree. _'I have a bad feeling this'll take a while.'_

* * *

Scowling down at the rubber ball in his hand, Naruto let loose with a rather inventive string of curses he had picked up from spending too much time with Anko and Kotetsu.

"No luck yet?" Haku softly asked.

"Nope." Naruto grumbled, glaring at the ball even harder.

Haku laughed softly. "You've still got three weeks left Naruto, give it a break for now. Bring Akuma along, our group's going out for a picnic."

Naruto blinked, and happily pocketed the ball for later. "'Kay!" He laughed, summoning Akuma. "I need anything else?"

Haku grinned and started to walk away. "Nope! C'mon!"

Naruto quickly darted into the trees after Haku with a grin.

Soon enough they landed in a secluded clearing out in the forest near the forest of death.

"Glad you could join us Naruto!" Hinata called out with a smile, setting out the last of the meal.

Naruto grinned, and settled in between Kimimaro and Shino. "I could use a break. I was **this** close to turning the rubber ball into a pincushion." He snorted.

"You'll get it." Shino calmly stated.

"Thanks Shino." Naruto grinned.

"Now, shall we eat?" Kimimaro proposed.

Everyone laughed and dug in.

"So why here exactly?" Naruto questioned.

"'Cause we got permission from Anko to train inside the Forest of Death in an hour." Haku chuckled. "She promised she'd stick nearby just in case too."

"Sweet! I can come with, right?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Sure! We were hoping you could spare the time to come!" Hinata giggled.

"Awesome!" Naruto grinned, quickly finishing his food. "So how's everyone else been since we all became capable of being awake for long stints again?"

Shino snorted. "Hinata and myself have been helping to patch up any repairs that needed doing around both Inuzuka and Aburame compounds. And you've noticed that Kimimaro's room's finished too."

Hinata smiled and nodded, "We hope you like it Kimimaro."

He smiled back at her softly, and nodded. "It's great."

Hinata beamed up at Shino, looking mighty proud of herself. He calmly dropped an arm around her shoulders with a grin, and asked, "And you Kimimaro? What have you been up to the last few weeks?"

Kimimaro stretched lazily. "Recovering. Training. Taking my field promotion chunin exam."

There was a moment's pause before a yelped, "What?" Out of Naruto broke the silence.

Kimimaro just laughed. "I couldn't be given genin rank Naruto, the Hokage knew that was too far below my skills."

"But… We were all gonna go it together!" Naruto pouted.

"Not really," Haku laughed sheepishly. "You, Shino and Hinata were going to try for it when the exams come up again two months from now in Suna. I, being a master medic, could technically apply for field promotion at any time. I was going to go straight for my jonin exam while you three were in Suna."

Naruto chuckled and rolled his eyes, while Hinata grinned at him. "Good luck then Haku!"

"To you three as well." He laughed, "So did you get it Kimi?"

Kimimaro grinned and nodded. "Yup. Was very easy. If I hadn't been so unsure of how strong I was yet, I'd have probably tried for jonin. At least I knew I'd make chunin."

"So where's your vest?" Shino asked, looking over Kimimaro's outfit. The odd robes he had worn in his earlier stay had been replaced by dark purple ninja pants with bandage wrappings around his calves, grey ninja sandals, and a white shirt with a mesh shirt underneath.

Kimimaro chuckled, "We don't strictly need to wear the vest. We just need to keep the vest somewhere on our body, so I've mine sealed into a tattoo on my chest."

Everybody nodded in understanding.

Haku stretched lazily and piped up, "Tsunade started running me ragged in the hospital as soon as were both recovered. She seems determined to pound every last medical piece of knowledge she has into my head. She's even more a taskmaster than Zabuza!"

Everyone shared a laugh for that one.

"And I've been working on the Rasangan of course. Hey, when'll Hayate and/or the others start teaching us again?" Naruto questioned.

"Hayate told me our actual training would resume when you finished with Tsunade's task Naruto. 'Til then, he's giving us individual study time. So I've gotten the Kaiten perfected now, and I'm working on the 8 Trigrams. That'll take a while though." Hinata sheepishly laughed.

"Ah, ok. And how's staying at the Inuzuka's compound working for you?" Haku asked.

"Not bad. I asked Tsume what my family could theoretically do to me for it, and she explained that unless the Hyuuga want to start a civil war, they can't actually harm me so long as I'm under the protection of another clan. And if they did attack one clan," Hinata explained, "There would be nothing stopping every other clan from joining in the conflict. Most would happily throw their lot in to stop the Hyuuga, most clans are actually rather annoyed with how much more prestige and such they get."

Most of the group nodded in understanding.

Hinata had to fight a blush down as she remembered Tsume's last teasing comment, _"And if you intend on marrying that Aburame of yours, you need to be backed by a clan not his own. So stick with us pup, you'll be fine!"_

Just as Naruto was about to ask another question, Anko landed in amongst them. "Ready to brave the forest again?" She smirked at the lot of them.

"Yea!"

* * *

Naruto stood before Tsunade with a slightly smug look on his face, while both she and Jiraiya eyed him skeptically.

"I know you got to the third part brat, but there's no way you can perform a rasangan." Jiraiya declared.

Naruto smirked. "Watch me."

Holding one hand up and gathering what was needed, he sent a silent mental thanks to Hayate having taught him so many chakra control exercises. "Rasangan!"

Both Sanin gapped in shock as Naruto gleefully tore though a tree with his Rasangan. Not as strong as Jiraiyas, but still as finished a version as had yet been developed.

"Nice work kid." Tsunade chuckled. "Didn't think you had it in ya."

* * *

Yugao looked with watery eyes up at Hayate from where she had tackled him to the ground not a minute prior with her choice. "Shouldn't we tell Naruto?" She sniffed, "He is my nephew."

"And my son." Hayate grinned in agreement. "You think Kotetsu'd be pissed if I asked Naruto to be best man?"

Yugao laughed. "In your dreams love! He's walking me down the aisle!"

* * *

Kakashi quietly wandered through the streets of Konoha, looking around and trying to ignore the looks he got from anyone who bothered to turn their gazes towards him._ 'I wonder if this is like what Sensei's child suffered after I gave him up.' _Kakashi painfully sighed. _'I was such a fool.'_

Continuing his quiet trek, he almost jumped out of his skin at hearing a delighted cry of "Sensei!"

He looked over startled, and carefully caught Sakura in a hug. "You're alright!" She cried out into his chest.

He smiled slightly beneath his mask. "Yep. Only a chunin, but at least we're both back."

She nodded happily into his chest.

He leaned down to quietly ask, "So you're keeping it? Does anyone know…?"

She pulled back with a self-conscious smile and looked down at her toes. "Yep. And nope. As far as anyone's aware, it was just a mission gone bad when we were a team."

Kakashi nodded, he wouldn't be the one to tip that hand to the council. Not with what it would do to her. "So how've you been holding up?" He asked.

"Great! I've gotten a job at the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino and I are best friends again, and even though he knows about my… condition, Lee still comes around to flirt almost every day." She laughed gently. "Despite all that went wrong, I think I'm better off now than I would have been had I stayed a ninja. Sorry sensei."

He chuckled softly. "It's alright, you wouldn't be the first to have had a change of heart and left the ranks."

She nodded, and stepped back. "Wanna come in for tea? You looked kinda lost."

He blinked, but smiled softly and nodded, following her back in to her house. He wouldn't let anyone harm her if he could help it. She was the only one who still seemed to care about him. Though it did remind him. "What have you heard about Naruto?" He asked.

"Naruto? Not much, he and his friends tend to stick to their own niche and hang out near the Aburame compound. I don't wanna go anywhere near there, too many bugs…" She stated with a shiver as she scrunched up her nose.

Kakashi closed the door behind him as he heard Mrs. Haruno call out a greeting to him.

* * *

Sasuke smirked in vicious satisfaction as he watched his brother's blood slow its spill. Lifeless eyes stared up at him in horror from the man he had once so feared and hated.

Feeling another twinge in his neck, Sasuke shook his head, and started to walk away, when his whole body felt like it started to burn. He hit the ground with a gasp as a memory that wasn't his swam before his eyes.

_His gentle laughing slid into silence as Tsunade settled her weight against him. Jiraiya, already sprawled out on his other side, grumbled, "Oy Tsudade! I'm comfier than him!"_

_"In your dreams toad-boy!" Tsunade laughed. "'Sides, Oro's not a pervert like you!"_

Sasuke snarled, struggling to get to his feet. These memories of Orochimaru's life had been happening more and more frequently, and continuing in reverse order too. At least the three of them seemed quite young in that one, so whatever was wrong should be over soon.

As he got to his feet, he swayed as a wave of dizziness struck him, before pain so intense he passed out hit.

* * *

Naruto stretched out lazily in the summer sun with a content smile across his face, and his date for his parent's wedding perched beside him.

"Thanks so much for inviting me for this Naruto." She grinned gently, looking down at him.

"No worries. You sure your brother doesn't mind? He is the new Kazekage." Naruto laughed.

"He's fine with it. He likes you. I have to admit, we were all more worried about how you'd take the fact that he became Kazekage before you became Hokage." She smirked.

Naruto chuckled. "I'm proud of Gaara, Temari. And glad I needn't worry about him coming after my head. I kinda like you!"

Temari blushed and grinned. "Me too. And Gaara'll keep Kankuro in line. He seems determined to give you a hard time just on principle."

Naruto laughed.

Hearing a pair of footsteps from behind him, he craned his neck around and grinned up at Haku and Kimimaro.

"I'm glad for them both. You mind if we hang out with you?" Haku questioned, eyeing Temari just slightly.

Temari nodded, smiling lightly at Haku. "Go ahead. And Yugao looked so pretty! That lilac dress looked gorgeous on her!"

The group continued to talk about the wedding as they got up from the steps and headed out into Konoha proper. As was tradition amongst ninja, only the bride and groom really needed to dress up, to keep as many ninja battle-ready as possible.

Temari had shown up in a dressier version of what she usually wore however, and kept her fan in a small sealing scroll at her hip, giving her a more elegant appearance. Haku and Kimimaro were dressed almost like they would have worn when they first joined Konoha, black for Haku, and white for Kimimaro. Needless to say, they all looked quite striking.

Naruto had taken the day to test-drive his new chosen outfit. It consisted of a black pair of pants and tanktop, black ninja sandals, and a sleeveless burnt orange jacket overtop, with a red spiral behind a green lizard. The red spiral motif had just needed to be rotated to be the Uzuki family crest, so he was now proudly showing off who his adopted parents were. He also wore burnt orange legwarmers over his customary weights on his ankles, and a mesh shirt beneath his tank top, sleeveless as well. He had also added lighter weights to his forearms, and had black guards to cover those.

All in all, between the four of them, and Shino and Hinata, they had made quite the sight. Shino had shown up with a dark green vest over his mesh shirt, but Hinata had looked simply radiant on his arm, dressed in a simple white dress. You'd have to look extremely closely to notice the dragonfly motif woven into the material.

All their dogs had been out as well, gleefully guarding the entrances, and their bugs had been used in some way for the wedding as well. Hinata's dragonflies, and Haku's moths had both been fluttering amongst the assembled, occasionally alighting on the bride or groom, or nearby decorations and catching the light.

Naruto's hive of bees was where most of the honey used to make Yugao's favorite treat at the buffet table came from.

Every one of their little rag-tag family had pitched in.

Ibiki had looked so uncomfortable being the one leading the ceremony, but Anko had looked rather viciously bemused being given the role of flower-girl. She had far more fun than she should have, pelting the greenery at everyone.

Kotetsu had been in charge of miscellaneous stuff, basically, he got ordered around by everyone, Izumo was the one who made the food and cake, and Iruka had been pulled in as Hayate's best man. Hinata had been Yugao's maid of honor.

Naruto did wind up walking Yugao down the aisle, much to everyone's amusement.

Shino and Kimimaro had stood with Iruka and Hayate, while Temari and a slightly sheepish Haku had stood on the bride's side.

But that was all alright. No ninja wedding tended to follow all the rules of a civilian wedding anyways. They always wound up putting their own spin on it.

"Well, see you all tomorrow, huh?" Temari asked, stopping as they all arrived at her hotel for the week.

"Sure." Haku agreed.

Naruto grinned as he turned for home, far too used to the duo flanking him by now to pay it any real mind.

Temari shook her head as they vanished around the corner. "He'll make a hell of a Hokage one day." She murmured. "He's already got most of his personal bodyguard unit all picked out anyway!"

* * *

Standing proudly shoulder to shoulder, Shino, Naruto, and Hinata all bowed their heads before the Kazekage, Gaara, as the crowds cheered.

"Told you we'd do it together." Shino softly murmured as they received their vests.

Both grinned back at him as they turned and headed back to the wall to stand with the other competitors.

"Congratulations to all the new chunins. You made a fine showing both today, and during the earlier challenges. Your country's should be proud to have such fine ninja." Gaara called out, making the stands cheer even louder.

He couldn't help a small smirk sent Naruto's way however.

"Yea, yea. I'll catch up soon Gaara!" Naruto softly grumbled, sending both his teammates into stifled laughter.

* * *

Darkness parted to reveal an open sky overhead, proving that the figure was lying on their back. Rolling over with a hiss of annoyance, Sasuke looked down over his body and let out a curse.

_'Almost 50 years I've been trapped in one human or another. When the hell will this end? I developed those curse marks for my first host to try to shatter the hold I found myself trapped in!'_ Sasuke shook his head in disgust. _'At least I'm me again. To think that sniveling little snake-like brat could think he could trap **me**, the Hachibi no Orochi! And for such stupidly noble reasons! It makes my scales burn, thinking what I've been subjected to for the last half a decade!'_

With snakelike grace, the Orochi, still stuck in the now mindless and soulless body of Sasuke, got to his feet and sneered as he kicked the dead ninja away from him. Judging from the corpse, he was out here awhile. No matter, Sasuke had given orders to not be disturbed on his hunt. Otogakure would still be waiting when he got back.

_'Now all I need to do is hunt down the other tailed beasts, absorb their power, and become the ultimate force within this pitiful world.'_ He growled softly, turning back towards Oto. _'May as well head back and plan for now. I'm not even sure where to start the hunt yet.'_

Deep within the psyche of the snake, one of the humans it had absorbed over the years stirred consciousness for the first time in uncounted years.

"Tsunade? Jiraiya? Did it work? Is the village safe? I tried to stop it… Where are you?" The soft voice of an exhausted child called out, swallowed by the inner darkness of the snake.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry these are taking so long. When I started this story, I was writing almost a chapter a day. Despite having the ending almost completely thought out and in point form, I just seem to have trouble finishing it. I'll try to get 'em out as fast as possible.

And I have a new idea for the epilogue, I can either do just the one, or make two epilogues where people choose which one. Depends on what I feel like when I get there.


	31. Two Steps from Hell

Dance of the Kitsune

Chapter 31: Two Steps from Hell

She continued her desperate run through the forests, silently praying the tree cover would hold. Having never been this far out, she honestly didn't know how many more trees lie in this direction.

Hearing a few more kunai thunk into trees near her head as she passed, she gasped and tried to pump her legs ever faster, straining for any last bit of strength she could muster.

Hearing a sibilant laugh behind her, she cursed frantically, and chanced a look over her shoulder. She had heard there were hunters after her and her ilk, but she had never figured a fourteen year old boy would be the one to claim her head.

Turning back around, she struggled for just a bit more speed. Her pursuer had been chasing her for hours now, from just outside her home's gates. She didn't know how much longer she could go on.

As if her thoughts were the cue her body needed, she felt her foot just slightly slip, but it was enough for the next kunai to embed straight to the bone in her calf.

With a pained cry, she tumbled to the ground.

"Is that really all you've got Nibi?" The boy laughed, sounding supremely amused. "You're pathetic. I can't believe you were one of the harder ones to get to!"

Yugito hissed, all her and the Nibi's strength had went into running and trying to fight this boy off. There was no doubt of what he was, he reeked of snake, but how was he so strong?

"Too bad kitten." He laughed, advancing on her as he drew his sword.

She knew there was no way out, but she had to try something… Taking a deep breath, and ignoring his laughter, she poured all the power both her and Nibi still possessed into the loudest scream she's ever produced.

Even as she heard the snake curse and spring towards her, she could feel her throat tear and rupture from the force of her warning. _'Please, let it be enough. Even though I've never met any of you… you at least deserve a warning.'_

Feeling the sword pierce though her heart, she looked through her rapidly darkening vision as what seemed to be purple chakra was pulled from the wound, and into the boy. _'Sorry Nibi…'_

Her last vision was of the purple chakra raking its claws across the boy's chest.

* * *

Kankuro laughed as he shoved Gaara's shoulder lightly. "How do you continue to convince people to let you go on border patrol with us?"

Gaara rolled his eyes and pointed out, "Kazekage. Unless they have a good reason why I shouldn't…"

Temari snorted. "You should know that by now Kankuro!"

"Yea, well why-" Kankuro started, only to be cut of quickly by Gaara.

"Quiet. Listen."

Both siblings stopped, and strained their ears to hear whatever had their brother listening so intently. Not hearing anything, they both strained their eyes into looking around too.

Temari turned to look worriedly at Gaara, who held up his hand for silence.

"I heard a scream…" Gaara whispered, even as he felt the Shukaku stir. _"...Nibi dead… hunter… biju!"_

"Gaara?" Temari questioned carefully, as Kankuro looked around,

"Something's not right." Kankuro whispered.

Gaara suppressed a shiver and looked at both of his teammates. "We should head back. I need to get a message to Naruto." He almost whispered, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

Temari suppressed a shiver, and for once didn't argue. Someone else could handle the patrol when they got back. Something was seriously wrong.

All three turned back and poured all the speed they had into getting back to Suna.

They ran with all they had, to get back as soon as possible. It would take at least an hour to get back to Suna at top speeds, and 3 after that at their absolute fastest to get to Konoha, never mind how long they'd be in Suna. But the longer they ran the more they knew they needed to go to Konoha themselves.

* * *

"Shit. We still have any idea of what's wrong, Gaara?" Temari gasped, sprinting out the gates after her brothers. They had just arrived less than an hour ago, gave a clipped report, grabbed some supplies and were off again.

Gaara looked grim as he replied, "Naruto, Haku and myself… I think we're the last three left…"

His siblings both took a rather impressive nosedive into the sand before righting themselves.

"What…?" Temari gasped.

Kankuro just looked almost as grim as his brother.

"We need to get to Naruto." Garra murmured. "Whatever's hunting us, it's managed with surprising ease so far. At least together the three of us stand a chance, not to mention our various friends."

Both nodded worriedly, and tried to coax a bit more speed from their legs.

"How'd you learn this anyways…?" Kankuro quietly asked.

"…Shukaku translated. Kinda. Didn't get too much out of him, just that the Nibi had just died." Gaara replied, looking towards the horizon and praying to see trees soon.

"Isn't the Nibi's container in Kumo?" Temari hopefully asked.

"You'd think. But even Shukaku would never have felt what he had if she wasn't closer then that when she died." He whispered.

"Closer…? But wouldn't that mean…?" She gasped.

Gaara just stayed quiet while Kankuro breathed, "So the hunter is already either near Konoha and going after the other two, or… Or headed this way instead."

Both siblings looked worriedly to their youngest brother who just kept running and wouldn't look at either of them, and all three understood. If the hunter was after the other two, Garra would leap head-long into helping them. If it was after him first…

"If the hunter's after me, I want you guys to head to Konoha and warn the others." Garra demanded.

Both siblings swallowed thickly, but warily nodded, knowing that bar special circumstances, there was no way they'd be able to force him to do otherwise.

They continued their lonely sprint through Suna, and could have cried at seeing the beginnings of trees on the horizon. One they entered River country, they'd be almost half-way there.

Thankfully the border guards around River were somewhat friendly to both Wind and Fire at the moment, and the three siblings were allowed to pass though quietly – provided they didn't go too close to their own ninja village.

They accepted the terms and took off.

"Fuck, that adds at least another two hours to our trip!" Kankuro hissed frantically. "It's a straight line from Suna to Konoha, with Tani straight in the centre!"

"There's nothing we can do about that brother." Gaara sighed, checking his course to go out around Tani from the north. "We just need to keep going."

Temari whimpered, but nodded. She was definitely cursing the fact that none of them were exactly stamina freaks. She herself was probably the fittest of the three of them. Chakra wise, her brothers beat her by a mile however.

However, if any of them wasted chakra in transportation, they'd be sitting ducks if they got into a bad fight.

By the time Kankuro noticed the sky darkening, they had been running for almost 6 hours, and none of them were at their best for it.

"Look on the bright side." Gaara panted. "The hunter was likely still near Kumo when we got the warning. At best, they have a third more ground to cover then us, and three countries before Konoha. At worst, they're probably as close as we are. And if they are after us, they'll have to go around Konoha to get to us, without anbu from Konoha going after them.

"We still might yet make it there before anything too bad happens." He hoped so anyways.

"Yea." Temari murmured, trying to have hope. _'But this hunter's likely in better shape than us, and faster too.'_

"Oh thank Kami!" Kankuro gasped, seeing the patrol ahead that said they were nearing the other side of River.

They took the small break for what it was as their papers were quickly verified. The guards were well trained – you **DID NOT** dick around when allied ninja looked to be in that big of a rush, **ESPECIALLY** if the Kage of an allied nation was amongst them.

The siblings gratefully guzzled down some cool water and refilled their canteens and tried to catch their breath as they watched what seemed to be the head guard come over.

"Everything's in order and I've got permission to escort you to just inside Fire's borders." The blonde guard commented. Seeing their eyes narrow a bit, he swiftly added, "Let me rephrase – I've been given permission to give you a lift to just inside Fire's borders – my deer summons aren't always useful in combat, but it'll cut about 2 hours off your journey. I advise you take the time to take a nap if you're able. I'll make sure you don't fall."

"Oh kami, thank you!" Temari gasped. Her brother swiftly stood and gave their thanks as well.

"I'd love to ask as to what's going on." He murmured, watching the trio as they headed back outside, "But I know when not to pry."

Once within the tree cover again, he swiftly summoned a deer for each of them to ride, tossing over ropes to the siblings as well and helping them to tie themselves loosely down to they could take the two hours to rest.

* * *

Temari stifled a yawn as she waved the ninja goodbye. They had learned his name was Tamaki. _'When this shit is over, I so need to give the guy a recommendation. We need more border guards like him.'_

Kankuro cracked his spine in a stretch as he muffled his own yawn.

Gaara only allowed them the luxury of a few moments to stretch before he was off at full speed again. His siblings right behind him.

Gaara strained both eyes and muscles, eventually giving a mental apology to both his siblings and friends, and further tuned out his surroundings to focus on more speed to his legs.

Neither his brother or sister argued to new orders, and likewise gave everything to running, paying no attention to the area around them.

Every ninja is always taught to be observant, and to never travel faster than you can pay attention to the area around you in. The three siblings however decided speed was more important right now. Gaara's sand isn't quite the perfect defense it had once been, but they were also confident it would shield all three of them as best it was able now too.

They barely even acknowledged Tanzaku Gai passing below them, just mechanically kept going. They were only grateful for the marker that proved they were less than two hours from Konoha, maybe one hour or so at their current speeds.

Leaping from tree to tree, Both siblings gasped when suddenly their red-headed bother wasn't leading the way anymore.

Hearing a thump, the both looked to the forest floor where Gaara was staggering to his feet, and prying a kunai out of his leg.

As a black shape leapt for their exhausted, and now possibly poisoned brother, both leapt from the trees and intercepted the boy from beheading their brother.

As the being bounced away, it was revealed to be Sasuke, the traitor genin from Konoha.

Gaara tried to keep his eyes open, he really did. The poison wasn't anywhere near enough to kill him anymore, his sand scraped enough of it off, but in his exhausted state it seemed to be more than enough to knock him out.

Sasuke smirked as he watched the youngest collapse. "Just hand me your sibling and you both can leave." He purred calmly.

"Like hell, asshole." Kankuro growled.

Temari nodded in agreement even as she stepped back to guard her little brother. She was desperately trying to come up with a plan – as the oldest of the three, it was her job to keep the other two alive.

Sasuke chuckled as he watched the two clearly exhausted teens. He wasn't stupid enough to underestimate them based on their exhaustion – he knew enough that that might prove to be dangerous, possibly even fatal.

"So you're the one then…?" Temari questioned, trying to stall for time.

The snake laughed. "Hunting the other Biju? Yes, yes I am. You see, only by taking their strength will my own ever increase – that's the curse of my kind. No amount of _training_ will ever make us stronger. We can get smarter and learn new tricks, but out power is capped." He seethed.

"However, by killing and absorbing the powers of my _**brethren**_, I add their strength to my own." The damn bastard almost looked to be preening as he explained this.

'_He has a right to be smug.'_ Temari gulped. _'If I understand right… that means he technically has the power of thirty-two tails.' _As she watched how me moved as Kankuro growled at him, she also noticed that he barely seemed capable of wielding his original eight while still trapped in a human form.

'_Oh thank kami, he's not invincible.'_ She sighed, catching his attention with the sound. _'He can still be beaten.'_

"Temari, go." Kankuro growled, keeping his eyes on the demented genin.

"But…" Temari gasped, clearly intending to take him together.

"Get Garra out of here Temari!" He yelled. Seeing as both were still hesitating, he played a card he hadn't ever needed to before, "He's our baby brother sis. Get him to Konoha!"

Temari swallowed, grabbed her passed out brother and took off, while Sasuke watched with narrowed eyes.

"You've cost me my prey." The snake-like youth hissed, not taking his eyes off the departing duo.

Kankuro smirked as he finished burrowing three puppets underground, the smallest one went quite a bit deeper than the other two. "Hopefully, I'll be taking more than that from you."

Sasuke turned his attention to the puppeteer with a snarl. "You don't have the strength, child."

Kankuro's eyebrows went up, hearing himself referred to as a child by the younger boy. Nevertheless, he unfurled Karasu and lunged the puppet at the snake-like youth.

Sasuke dodged the incoming puppet, and cursed as numerous compartments opened up, and fired an insane amount of weaponry. "Fuck." He hissed, dodging as best he could.

Kankuro smirked, manipulating Karasu to continue to chase down Sasuke, trying to herd him into a certain area while continually firing poison-tipped weapons.

The deranged snake twisted mid-air while hissing what might have been a jutsu, and suddenly shot off a tree and lunged straight for the puppeteer.

Kankuro cursed, frantically back peddling. He knew his weakness lie in confronting enemies without his puppets. He quickly tugged the chakra strings connecting him to one of his other puppets on the field, and brought up another one just in time to block the sword to the jugular. He wasted no time in appreciating his survival, just opened the puppet's mouth and shot the barbs straight into Sasuke's left eye.

The boy let loose an unholy shriek, and stumbled back.

Kankuro knew if he valued those precious eyes of his so much, he wouldn't dare risk removing the little barbs. More to the point though, he wouldn't even fathom removing the larger black one that seemed to go into the eye socket, while missing the eye.

'_Gotcha'_ Kankuro mentally sighed, making sure the puppet underground was still functioning. _'This new technology shit better work like promised.'_

Sure enough, after an initial brush of fingers near the area to see what was done, Sasuke cast a quick jutsu all ninja knew to more-or-less, freeze the area. Numbing the pain and ensuing the affected area couldn't move. It also effectively killed his eyesight in that eye, at least for while the jutsu was active.

The two combatants retook ready stances while eying each other warily.

"I admit, you've done better than anyone else has for a long time, little puppet." The boy chuckled, though there was no mirth in that voice.

"The fuck are you?" Kankuro whispered.

"Heh… What I am? That depends on who's asking. To many I'm a nightmare, to one young boy his chance to be a hero, to another his best chance at strength. At the moment, I'm a hunter of my brethren. Most just call me… Snake." He purred, watching the puppeteer's eyes widen.

'_Shit. I dunno how, but he's the jinchuriki … no… I think he IS the Orochi! But how…?' _

"I see your pitiful mind's begun to understand. While the other biju fight the whatever bindings are given to them, I long ago set to study and learn about mine. My last jailor before this one was quite the genius about such things – I never would have learned how to manipulate my bindings to the point of willingly possessing someone without him." He chuckled darkly.

Kankuro growled. "Oh? Who was your last jailor?"

Orochi laughed. "Arrogant bastard aren't you? However for your perseverance, I might as well tell you. My last jailor was that self-righteous brat Orochimaru. Raised as he had been with such a connection to snakes, when he found me injured in the woods and realized what I was, he actually thought he could contain me and then destroy me with his own eventual death.

"Fucking retard never realized I had access to all his thoughts, memories… I was able to manipulate him into creating the curse seals and worse to study my own imprisonment. At first he has enough free will to think he was performing such experiments to find a way to destroy me once and for all." He laughed like he had just told the greatest joke ever.

Kankuro swallowed as he realized the creature before him wasn't just powerful, but bat-shit insane.

"And you know what the greatest part is?" The snake giggled, "To this day everyone still treats his name like mud! I was able to lock him within his own body as a teenager, and yet no one ever realized a damn thing!"

Kankuro silently sent a prayer to Kami. _'Please… let my siblings make it to Konoha. And let my little plan work.'_

"Finished praying yet?" Orochi smirked.

Kankuro started, before growling, "Yea. C'mon!"

The snake quickly proved himself far, far too fast for Kankuro's puppets. Even with one eye temporarily blinded, he was too quick to dodge and twist away from the projectiles.

He knew he was tiring quickly, so he started to swiftly come up with a way to hopefully stop the damn snake.

"Your aim seems to be getting worse." He laughed out, eying the puppeteer. "You're not that tired already are you?"

Kankuro paid his taunts no mind and just continued to throw weapons from his own hands while commanding his two puppets to try to come in from behind the bastard.

"Smart, but ultimately useless. At the speeds you move, you're more likely to hit yourself." The creature purred.

Kankuro just continued to try to maneuver the traitor closer. Seemingly deciding to humor the puppeteer, and likely remembering he had never been a close-range specialist, the creature let him herd him in closer.

Kankuro took a breath as his third combat puppet leapt from beneath the ground, causing the startled snake to me boxed in on all sides and in close range to all three puppets and their master.

"Fuck you, asshole." Kankuro smirked wickedly.

* * *

**A/N:**

Muahahahaha! I LIIIIIIVE!**  
**

Wow, sorry this story's taking so long folks! Woke up today with this entire chapter (and a bit of the next one) playing in my head, (to the song Dragonrider by Two Steps from Hell), so yea. Damn though, I hate writing fight scenes.

Also have the next chapter partly written as of putting this one up, and my inspiration seems to be holding up so far, so here's hoping, eh?

We're also in the home stretch now people! Here's hoping I can finish writing and upload the rest in a timely manner.

PS – Used this map (http :/ www. leafninja. com/ country. php) So forgive me if anything isn't right.


	32. Important notice! Do not delete!

Ok, it's become quite clear to me that it's impossible to finish this story as-  
is, so if I still have any fans left, I apologize. This is version 2 of this  
story, and it's clear it needs another, hopefully it's last, rewrite, as it's  
just not possible to finish it as-is.

There are too many things that I need to go back and fix, far too many things I  
need to explain better, and a few things that need to be cut, as I now keep  
wondering _what-the-hell_ was I thinking.

**This version of the story will stay up until I have at least a few chapters, **  
**then I'll be either deleting this story and putting up the new one, or more **  
**likely, just replacing the chapters I've finished in this chapter and going from **  
**there.**

If I have any fans left, fantastic! Feel free to copy and paste what's here into  
your word processor of choice to hang onto for personal reading. I would prefer  
this not be posted anywhere else, but as long as it links back to my profile,  
and has my name, SelenaWolf, on it somewhere noticeable in case I leave or am  
forced to leave Fanfiction, I probably won't mind.

Not sure when the first few chapters will be upgraded, and it is an upgrade, the  
plot will still be mostly the same, it just really, really needs fixing up. This  
notice will be here until this story is deleted, or replaced.

So yea, will hopefully have new chapters to churn out soon, and it will be worth  
rereading, as enough things will change. Will also be trying to depart from  
canon as much as possible. Some things will still mirror closely, as those  
events were what this story was originally made because of.

Just in case you're curious;

**Version 1** - Never made it past the wave mission, before being scrapped and  
rewritten, it was pretty horrible. And my first attempt at writing anything that  
topped 5k words.

**Version 2** - This version, an experiment/training in writing just about  
everything, but especially fight scenes. Still not 100% confident in those, but  
much, much better than I was. Refer to the crappy fight scenes during the  
sand/sound invasions if need proof, as I think those were my first fully  
original fights, the others were all based on manga battles.

**Version 3** - Upcoming. Hopefully will be awesome. Will try to mirror much, much  
less of the manga, though some things up to the Chunin exam will still have to  
happen.

**Last point** - I apologize to no-one for this, but I tried to be as... appeasing  
to the fans as possible in the 2nd version as far as romances go. Which is part  
of the reason I had a problem, as I started losing interest in my own story. All  
I'll say, is my view of the ninja world is that for the ninjas, gender probably  
doesn't matter much to most of them - if they can find a connection to last a  
day, week, month, or years, they'll gladly hold onto it as long as they can. So  
if you're that picky about pairings, you got some hints in this version, but not  
all will hold true in version 3, so here's your warning.

**Not sure how long it'll take before version 3's up, but hoping to have it at **  
**least started between now and sometime early to mid March.**

Also planning to put version 3 on Archive of Our Own at some point, just in case  
it gets booted off here. :)

Thank you for your time, and **if while reading, you had any questions**, any at all, **please PM or Review** so I can take notice if it's something that needs fixed! Your comments can and will help! I've had a few reviews and PM's from people that brought up really, really good points. Will be rereading the story myself with my little note list open and taking notes of things that need fixed, chapter by chapter as well.

Thank you.

Please do not delete this chapter or story, will be refurbished soon, and this note will be gone.


End file.
